Jason Wernegreen Continuing the LA Kings season reviews is your Los Angeles Kings captain and leader in team points, Anze Kopitar!
Season Overview
Anze Kopitar entered the 2022-2023 season with two years remaining on his contract in LA. Once again, Kopitar showed leadership and elite production that earned him the ‘C’ in the first place. Kopitar ended his 2022-2023 campaign leading the LA Kings in points for the sixth straight year. This was the 15th time in his career leading the team in points. As usual, the captain spent the season centering the Kings’ top line and power-play unit. Kopitar was on the top line with Adrian Kempe on his wing, the other side, however, had a mix of players ranging from Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, and Viktor Arvidsson. Kopitar’s wingers shuffled throughout the year, yet his production remained consistent.
Anze Kopitar led the @LAKings in points for the 15th time, the 3rd-most seasons as a team leader in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (19) and Gordie Howe (17). Kopitar did so while having the fewest PIM (4) among the top 100 scorers. #NHLAwards#NHLStats: https://t.co/CradNYvzrk pic.twitter.com/aHCIkpJD6g
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 2, 2023
Season Stats
Anze Kopitar put up the most goals in a season since his 2017-2018 campaign, in which he won the Selke trophy. Kopitar finished with 28 goals, 46 assists, and 74 points on the season. The points, however, were not the LA Kings captain’s most impressive stat this year. Kopitar played a total of 1,665 minutes of ice time this year and only had four penalty minutes! Yes, you read that right. Through 82 fully healthy games, Anze Kopitar only took two minor penalties. Kopitar posted 20 of his 74 points on the man advantage this season with seven power-play goals and 13 power-play assists.
Playoff Stats
The LA Kings captain continued to shine in the playoffs as well. Through the Kings’ six-game series, Kopitar posted seven points with two goals and five assists. His two playoff goals came on the power play with only one assist, leaving four of his playoff points at even strength. An interesting anecdote about the captain’s playoff stats can be seen looking at his game logs. Four of Kopitar’s seven playoff points came in game one of the series; if you take that out, Kopitar would have averaged .6 points per game rather than over a point per game.
Looking Ahead
Entering the 2023-2024 campaign, we know what Kopitar’s role will be on the team. The LA Kings expect him to be a leader and most likely the top-line center until one of the prospects is ready to take on that role. Where Kopitar’s future gets interesting is next off-season, however. He will be a free agent in the summer of 2024, and presumably, the Kings would re-sign their captain if he wants to play beyond this season. However, there are some unknowns about what that extension could look like.
(Main Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times)