Mark Stone #61, Bobby Ryan #6, Milan Michalek #9, and Cody Ceci #5 of the Ottawa Senators celebrate Ryan’s third period goal against Trevor Lewis #22 of the Los Angeles Kings on January 16, 2016 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
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Kopitar has agreed to a new eight-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings. They did not disclose the terms of the deal.
The Slovenian center has been Los Angeles’ leading scorer in each of the last eight seasons, providing stellar two-way play for the two-time Stanley Cup champions, but he wasn’t feeling upbeat afterward.
That’s a lengthy contract to be sure, but consider that Kopitar is only 28 years old with plenty of hockey ahead of him.
Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli each had a goal and an assist in just the second regulation loss in 10 games since Christmas for the Kings, who seemed just as surprised as their fans by their collapse in their return from a four-day break.
The heavily front-loaded contract will then pay Kopitar $13-million, $12-million, $11-million in Years 2, 3 and 4 before dropping off in the final four years – to include two years at $8-million and two years at $7-million.
Kings center Anze Kopitar admitted he was distracted.
With a few notable exceptions, much of the core of the Kings” Stanley Cup championship teams in 2012 and “14 remains intact, something that made Kopitar’s extension all the more pleasing for him.
“I’m happy to sign, knowing I am going to stay here a little while longer”, Kopitar said.
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“I’ve been a part of this organization when we went through pretty big struggles and not very fun years”, Kopitar said. He has 12 goals and 24 assists in 43 games this season, again leading the Kings in scoring. It’s the same way: “Be the best you can be, help your team win”. The Kings will be disappointed to let this one slip away as they were up 3-1 in the third period.
