After several reports indicated that a deal between the Kings and Anze Kopitar was close, the organization made it official on its Twitter account on Saturday afternoon.
Count it! That’s eight more years for Anze Kopitar in a #LAKings uniform.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 16, 2016
OFFICIAL >> https://t.co/0OgNxt93ag pic.twitter.com/nvRPFwUH02
The contract is for eight years and worth a total of $80 million. Kopitar will receive a full no-move clause through 2020, and it becomes a limited no-trade clause after that.
The 28-year-old will also receive a $9 million bonus in each of the first two years of the contract.
Here’s the financial breakdown of his new contract:
Anze Kopitar extension by season, starting with 2016-17:
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 16, 2016
$9M sb/$5M salary
$9M sb/$4M salary
$12M
$11M
$8M
$8M
$7M
$7M
It’s a rich deal for the Kings, who already have seven other players signed through 2019 and beyond, but they couldn’t let their franchise center walk in free agency.
- Dustin Brown ($5.875 million/yr until 2022)
- Jeff Carter ($5.272/yr until 2022)
- Marian Gaborik ($4.875 million/yr until 2021)
- Drew Doughty ($7 million/yr until 2019)
- Jake Muzzin ($4 million/yr until 2020)
- Alec Martinez ($4 million/yr until 2021)
- Jonathan Quick ($5.8 million/yr until 2023)
Here’s what LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen had to say about the deal:
While this is a massive contract that could potentially complicate the team’s financial flexibility next decade, it’s also a signing that is absolutely vital to the team’s ongoing success. Put bluntly, without Kopitar, the Kings aren’t necessarily an elite NHL team, and while a $10M cap hit is very high, it’s still clearly the preferred scenario over seeing a franchise player test free agency.
Kopitar has posted at least 61 points in every season (except the lockout year), and he’s on pace to surpass that mark again in 2015-16.
Oh and the two Stanley Cup rings aren’t too shabby either.