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Longtime L.A. Kings Captain Anže Kopitar to Retire After 2025-26 Season

Kopitar won two Stanley Cups with the Kings.

Mike Kadlick

Anze Kopitar plans to hang up his skates after the 2025-26 season.
Anze Kopitar plans to hang up his skates after the 2025-26 season. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Longtime Kings center Anže Kopitar plans to retire from the NHL following the 2025-26 season, he announced on Thursday evening.

Kopitar, 38, is a five-time NHL All-Star and a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He has won two Selke Awards—given to the league's top defensive forward in a given season—and three Lady Byng Memorial Trophies—given to the player who exhibits "the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

The Kings drafted Kopitar with the 11th pick in the 2005 NHL draft and, upon his debut in 2006, became the first Slovenian player in league history. He's since spent the entirety of his career in L.A., becoming the franchise's second leading scorer. Kopitar was named team captain of the Kings ahead of the 2016-17 season—a title he's held ever since.

Coming off of a 48-25-9 season and a first-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the postseason, the Kings open up the 2025-26 campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 7 against the Colorado Avalanche.

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Mike Kadlick
MIKE KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the New England Patriots for WEEI sports radio in Boston and continues to do so for CLNS Media. He has a master's in public relations from Boston University. Kadlick is also an avid runner and a proud lover of all things pizza.

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