Entering this season, the Los Angeles Kings have two key players entering the final season of their contracts. One is Adrian Kempe, and he is looking for a long-term deal which the Kings shouldn't be hesistant to offer.
However, there might not be much for the Kings to offer to bring back the other player as Anze Kopitar seems ready to call it a career. It was rumored during the summer that Kopitar could be considering it but on Thursday during an interview on the Sports Central Podcast it is clear that it a real possibility.
"If I said I didn't think about it, I would be lying for sure," when asked about a pending retirement. "I have been thinking about, but not everything is quite decided yet but this could be my last season in the NHL."
It will certainly be weird once the time does come for Kopitar to hang it up because he has been apart of the Kings franchise for two decades after they selected him 11th overall in the 2005 NHL Draft. It didn't take long for him to reach the NHL and he would make his debut in the 2006-07 season where he played 72 games as a rookie.
From that point on, Kopitar has been a cornerstone for the franchise and helped the franchise's only two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014.
Anze Kopitar will be one of the greatest players in Los Angeles Kings history when it calls it a career
Entering this season, Kopitar already owns a number of franchise records including most games played (1,454) and assists (838). However, he can grab one more this season as he is only 29 points behind Marcel Dionne to be the franchise leader in points.
There isn't much he can accomplish as an individual and it will be interesting to see if he can have anymore success as a team. The Kings may not be able to win a third Stanley Cup but a deep playoff run would be a great way for Kopitar to call it a career.
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