Kings’ Anze Kopitar to retire after 2025-26 NHL season
Anze Kopitar will call it quits after this season.
The Kings captain will retire following the 2025-26 season — his 20th of his career — ending a run that included two Stanley Cup titles, three Lady Byng Trophies three times and two Selke Trophies.
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Kopitar announced the decision at a news conference on Thursday after the Kings wrapped up their first day of training camp.
The 28-year-old Slovenian noted that part of the reasoning was his desire to be more present for his family.
“They deserve a husband and a dad to be home to be present for the moments that are going to be leading up, especially for these guys,” he said, pointing to his children. “They’re soon going to be teenagers, and we all know that that’s a very important time of their lives, and I want to be as present as I can be.
“Why announce now? I just felt that, in a simple way to put it, I want to get this out of the way now, to where I’m not a distraction for the team. For example, if we’re in a fight coming down the stretch, the last thing I want to do is take any attention away from the team and put it on myself. I just felt that this is the best time.”
Ironically, Kopitar announced the news hours after fellow Los Angeles sports star, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, revealed that he would be retiring at the end of this MLB season.
The Kings center even made light of the timing.
“I guess some pretty big news broke when Kershaw retired, so thank you for coming here,” he said with a chuckle to the assembled press.
Kopitar has appeared in nearly 1,500 NHL games — all with the Kings — and has scored 440 goals with 1,278 points.
Los Angeles drafted Kopitar with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, kickstarting a career that is likely to end with his name in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
He was part of cup-winning teams in 2012 and 2014, coincidentally toppling two of the three metro-area teams — the Devils and Rangers — in the Stanley Cup Final.
Kopitar is already the Kings’ all-time leader in games (1,454), assists (838) and game-winning goals (78).
He’s 30 points shy of taking control of the club record for most points.
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