After 20 seasons and two Stanley Cups, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar announced that he’ll retire after the 2025-26 NHL season. (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswear)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As his 20th season with the Los Angeles Kings begins, Anze Kopitar has set a hard line on the end of his NHL career.
Flanked by his wife Ines and children, 10-year-old Neza and eight-year-old Jakob, the Kings captain announced to the media on Thursday that he’ll be retiring after the 2025-26 campaign.
Family played a major role in the timing of Kopitar’s decision.
“They deserve a husband and a dad to to be home and present for the moments that are going to be leading up,” he said. “These guys are soon going to be teenagers, so we all know that that’s a very important time of their lives. I want to be as present as I can be.”
Now 38, Kopitar will retire as the greatest player ever to come from his native Slovenia, which has sent just three players ever to the NHL. And on a team that was home to Wayne Gretzky for eight years, Kopitar can stake a strong claim on the title of the greatest player in franchise history.
Drafted 11th overall in 2015, Kopitar leads his draft class in games played (1,454) and is second to Sidney Crosby in points (1,278). He’s also the all-time games-played leader for the Kings and sits 29 points behind Marcel Dionne in second place on the team’s all-time points list — a deficit he could easily erase this season.
Kopitar was also an anchor for L.A.’s only two Stanley Cup wins, in 2012 and 2014. Then, he took over the team’s captaincy from Dustin Brown in 2016 and is now the club’s longest-tenured captain in franchise history.
Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings poses with the Norris Trophy as Anze Kopitar poses with the Frank J. Selke Trophy, center, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, right, which they won following the 2015-2016 season. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHLI via Getty Images
His individual awards also speak volumes about his selfless, team-first character, both on and off the ice. He was named the recipient of the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2022, won two Selke trophies as the league’s best defensive forward, and was a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct while maintaining a high level of play — most recently this past season in 2024-25.
It’s not common for NHL players to announce their retirement intentions ahead of time. Kopitar admitted that part of his motivation was to avoid discussing his future plans with the media throughout the year, but he also wanted to ensure that his status wasn’t a distraction to his teammates.
“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,” he said.
As it happened, Kopitar shared oxygen on Thursday with the retirement announcement of another Los Angeles sports legend, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And while the two sides didn’t coordinate their declarations, the timing suited Kopitar just fine.
“It was actually perfect for me,” he said with a smile. “Now I can fly under the radar.”
Heading into the second season of a two-year contract extension that carries a cap hit of $7 million, Kopitar will retire having played his entire NHL career with the same organization — a rarity that looks like it will become even more infrequent after seeing franchise icons like Steven Stamkos and Mitch Marner change teams over the last year, and rumors currently swirling that even Crosby or Connor McDavid could wind up changing addresses at some point.
With total career earnings of $137 million according to PuckPedia, Kopitar never had reason to look anywhere else.
“It didn’t really cross my mind to even think or explore, to go anywhere else,” he said. “Obviously the fact that we were the first team to bring the cup to L.A. makes it special, and then follow it up with another one. Those are the the core memories that you can’t ignore.”
Now that his decision is made, Kopitar is looking to close this chapter of his life on a high note.
“I am looking extremely forward to to this next season,” he said. “I still have a lot of motivation. I’ve got a lot of energy, a lot of desire to compete at the very highest level. And the moves that we’ve made, I think we’re a better team than we were last year. And I just cannot wait to get going. Today was a great day, first day on the ice. I cannot wait for the October 7 to roll around and go from there. Obviously, the ultimate goal for me and the team is to be playing hockey in June and hopefully come out of the season on the very top.”
Kopitar’s impending departure is the latest major change in what looks to be a period of transition for the Kings. In May, the team hired Ken Holland as its new general manager after longtime Los Angeles defenseman and Hockey Hall of Famer Rob Blake spent eight seasons at the helm. Coach Jim Hiller will be entering his second full season behind the bench, and the roster is transitioning to a next-generation core led by Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala offensively, with young guns like Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke and Alex Laferriere all on the rise.
Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter celebrate with the Stanley Cup on June 13, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHLI via Getty Images
One stalwart remains, however: Drew Doughty. Another Kings lifer, the 35-year-old defenseman has played his entire career with Kopitar since entering the NHL in 2008.
“He did say he was hoping, I guess, that I was going to change my mind. So when I really broke the news to him, I guess he is a little bit sad,” Kopitar said. “But there’s still some time for us to play together and hang out together and just really have a good season. Let’s see where that takes us.”
Anze Kopitar’s final season will begin when the Los Angeles Kings will host the Colorado Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena as part of ESPN’s opening-night triple-header on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
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