Anze Kopitar has had an incredible career with the Los Angeles Kings and just played in his 1,400 game with the team on Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild. He has earned plenty of awards and by the end of his career will not only be the franchise leader in assists, something he already owns, but should also be the franchise leader in points.
In regards to points, Kopitar has been very consistent year over year but only has one season with 90 or more points. He accomplished that in the 2017-18 season when he had 92 and since that season has not had more than 74.
This season he looks set to surpass that total but is on pace to set a career high in this category as he already has 31 points in 27 games. If he continues producing at this rate, he will finish the season with 94 points.
Buy or sell Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar setting a career high in points in 2024-25?
It is tough to imagine that Kopitar, who is currently 37 years old, is able to continue at this pace. He is averaging more points per game in November than he did in October (1.21 vs. 1.09) and has only had at least one point in three games out of 16 since the beginning of November.
The biggest question is how Jim Hiller is going to manage Anze Kopitar for the remainder of the season. He is older and being mindful of his ice time will be important, especially if the Kings want to make a deep playoff run.
In fact every season since the 2020-21 season, Kopitar's average ice time has decreased every season and is currently at 19:14 this season. However he has been really efficient with that ice time as Assists Per 60 Minutes is one assist higher than the previous year (2.66 vs. 1.66) and almost one point higher (3.58 vs. 2.64) according to Money Puck.
Both averages are also career highs for Anze Kopitar and that is why it is hard to imagine that Kopitar can continue to be this efficient as the season goes along. A more realistic goal would be 80 or more points, which would still be a great season and his best since 2017-18, but as the season goes along there will probably be a dip.