Kings to sign Adrian Kempe to a massive eight-year extension

Most have viewed a Kempe extension as a must-do for Kings general manager Ken Holland, and for good reason. With captain Anze Kopitar’s pending retirement already set to leave a glaring hole in their top six next season, losing a second member of their top unit would have been catastrophic.

More so than ever, Kempe has taken the reins from Kopitar as the team’s top offensive threat. With six goals and 13 assists in 19 games this season, he’s on track to hit the point-per-game mark for the first time in his career despite an early-season shooting slump. His 9.7% finishing rate is currently his worst since hitting a low of 7.4% in the 2019-20 season. He’s only on track to hit 26 goals this year at present, but with his shooting average up at 14.2% over the prior four years, there’s a high chance he’ll hit over 30 once again and finish in the 80-to-90-point range.

Kempe has now scored 30 goals in three of the last four years and would have gone four-for-four if not for a five-game absence in 2023-24. He’s been stapled to Kopitar’s wing on L.A.’s top line since first getting an extended promotion in the 2020-21 season. It was somewhat of a delayed breakout for the 29-year-old, who was a first-round pick back in 2014. He didn’t make his NHL debut until late in his third year post-draft and spent the following few years posting around 30 points a year in a middle-six role. His big break didn’t come until his first full season on Kopitar’s wing in 2021-22, when he notched a team-leading 35 goals as L.A. ended a three-year playoff drought.

The 6-foot-2 winger has been a money-in-the-bank producer since then, while also hitting the 100-hit mark in every year since 2021-22. Since his breakout, Kempe’s 145 goals in 337 games are tied for 21st in the league. He’s now at 200 goals for his career, putting him just inside the top 10 in Kings franchise history and 14th in points with 420.

With him and Kevin Fiala checking in as L.A.’s only semi-consistent 30-goal options, there was little chance they could sustain losing him and Kopitar without many other options slated to be available to replace them in free agency without dropping back out of the playoff picture. His new deal will make him the Kings’ highest-paid forward next year, and he could be their highest-paid player outright starting in 2027-28 with the expiry of Drew Doughty’s contract.

The Kings tried aggressively to get Kempe’s deal done months ago during the offseason, but were unsuccessful. Shortly before training camp, Kempe said he wanted something done as soon as possible and all but set the Christmas break as a drop-dead date for talks. Sunday’s news marks a seemingly significant concession from Kempe’s camp, which was eyeing a match to the $11.5M average annual value that Martin Necas landed in his extension with the Colorado Avalanche a few weeks ago.

Even with the eight-figure commitment, the Kings still boast $23.1M in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia. That’s with seven open roster spots. The contract is also one of the few truly long-term ones left on the Kings’ books. Only Mikey Anderson, whose deal expires following the 2030-31 season, is under contract past the end of the decade.