The Los Angeles Kings made a big signing on Sunday, inking forward Adrian Kempe to an eight-year contract extension. The deal pays the forward $10.625 million per year, totaling $85 million. Before hitting free agency, the Swedish forward agreed to the massive deal. But was it the right price to avoid free agency? Or should he have waited until July 1?
The Kings underwent some significant changes in the offseason under new general manager Ken Holland. They renovated their blue line with contracts to Brian Duomolin, Joel Edmundson, and Cody Ceci. While those moves were widely panned as overpays for older players, the Kings needed a change to compete with the Edmonton Oilers in the postseason. Kempe is not a change, but a bet on talent that Holland needed to make.
Kempe could have waited until July 1 to sign a deal, but he decided to stay in Los Angeles. How did both sides fare on the massive contract?
The Kings get their hometown goal-scorer locked up
This contract is not inexpensive by any standard, but it is a discount compared to what other players received on their extensions this season. Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov, Lane Hutson, and Thomas Harley all signed deals with comparable or higher cap hits. Kempe is not a center, which explains it for McDavid and Eichel. But to get Kempe so much cheaper than Kaprizov is a great deal for the Kings.
Kempe is coming off his third season with 35 goals, all with the Kings. Their offense has not been dominant this season, but if they get rolling, the winger will be a big reason why. This contract pays him less than the Artemi Panarin contract the Rangers signed in 2019, which expires after this season. If Kempe scores 35 goals in 2026-27, he will be one of the bigger discounts in the league.
Holland deserves a lot of criticism for the contracts that started his tenure, but this one is a home run. It is one he needed to sign for the future of the Kings, and he got it at a reasonable price.
Kings grade: A
Adrian Kempe misses opportunity to be July 1 darling
With all of those extensions signed late in the summer, the free-agent pool is thin and getting thinner. With Kempe now out of the pool, Panarin, Nick Schmaltz, and Alex Tuch are taking center stage. While Kempe did maintain his desire to stay in Los Angeles, he could have done that for a much higher payday had he waited.
There were a lot of teams hoping for the slim chance that one of Kaprizov, McDavid, or Eichel would hit free agency. None of them did, which means a lot of teams will have cap space in the 2026-27 season. Kempe could have been the belle of the ball and taken advantage of that league-wide cap space. But instead, he took a $5.125 million per year raise to stay in Los Angeles.
That is nothing to sneeze at, of course, but the Kings are freeing up money in the offseason. Anze Kopitar is retiring, clearing his $7 million hit off the books. Plus, the cap is going up by $8.5 million. Kempe took a discount compared to his peers and left Holland with plenty of space to add next offseason. That should put the Kings in a great spot next season.
Kempe grade: B+
Final Adrian Kempe-Kings thoughts
The Kings did the right thing by extending their franchise cornerstone before he hit free agency. But for Kempe and his representation not to at least test the free agency waters is questionable, to say the least. It gives Ken Holand a lot of power in the Los Angeles organization that he may not have earned yet. Can he take advantage of this opportunity and bring LA deep in the playoffs?
