LA Kings Captain Anze Kopitar Announces The 2025-26 Season Will Be His Last

On Thursday afternoon, inside the LA Kings practice facility, captain Anze Kopitar announced that the 2025-26 season, his 20th year playing, will be his final season in the National Hockey League.

The future Hall of Famer, drafted by LA with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, is widely considered the greatest player in franchise history.

Kopitar is a two-time Stanley Cup winner. He’s also a two-time Frank J. Selke Award winner (2015-16, 2017-18), three-time Lady Byng Award winner (2015-16, 2022-23, 2024-25), Mark Messier Leadership Award winner (2021-22), and is a five-time all-star.

He holds the franchise lead in games played (1454) and assists (838), and is third in goals (440). This season, he’ll have a chance to become the all-time points leader for the Kings, sitting only 29 points behind Marcel Dionne’s 1307 for LA.

While many expected this would be his final year after hints he left over the last few seasons, the news is still hard to accept. But fans will get one last season to see the legendary Anze Kopitar play hockey for the LA Kings.