If you weren’t aware before the playoffs started, you found out during the Los Angeles Kings’ run to winning their second Stanley Cup in three years that Anze Kopitar is a pretty good player.
Kopitar led all players in the postseason in points with 26. He had a hand in shutting down superstar centers Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, and Jonathan Toews in the first three rounds and did well to hold Derek Stepan to just two assists in the Cup Final.
Even in spite of his success, he may not jump to mind first when talking about elite centers in the NHL and Kings captain Dustin Brown can’t believe that as Corey Masisak of NHL.com shared.
There’s no doubt about that, but even as a Slovenian playing in Los Angeles, more people are taking notice of him. Winning two Stanley Cups helps out, but he’s been a top point producer for the Kings since entering the league in 2006. Having offense to go with the superstar-shutting-down defense makes him one of the league’s best.