The Los Angeles Kings will need to replace a major part of the roster in the summer of 2026. Anze Kopitar has announced he will be retiring at the end of the season. Now, the franchise will need to replace its captain for the 2026-27 campaign, and this is one bold move the team needs to make.
Kopitar was the Kings' 11th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft. He broke into the NHL in the 2006-07 season and has been a consistent presence on the Kings since then. Kopitar has played in 1,454 games with 440 goals and 838 assists in the regular season and 103 playoff games. In his first season, he missed ten games, but since then, he has missed more than six games in a season just once.
Meanwhile, Kopitar has amassed 50 or more points in 18 of his 19 seasons, with 16 seasons over 60 points, and nine seasons of 70 or more. The captain is a five-time NHL all-star, two-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and three-time winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
Still, replacing Kopitar will take a monumental player. He is first in franchise history in games played and assists. He is also third in goals scored, but first in game-winning goals. Further, he is second in points in franchise history. With a 30-point season, the Slovenian will move to first all-time.
The Kings have a litany of options. Multiple top-end players will be free agents next summer, including Kyle Connor, Connor McDavid, Artemi Panarin, Jack Eichel, and Kirill Kaprizov.
History needs to repeat itself
In 1988, the Edmonton Oilers lifted the Cup for the fourth time in five seasons. This was led by their star young forward, Wayne Gretzky. In 1978, a then-17-year-old Gretzky signed a contract with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA. Just eight games into the season, with the Racers losing money every game, they decided to sell the contract of Wayne Gretzky. The Oilers and Winnipeg Jets both sought the young star.
The Oilers would win that battle, and the future Hall of Famer would join their roster. As the WHA faced financial difficulties, it came to a deal with the NHL. The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets would all join the NHL as expansion teams. Gretzky was protected from the reallocation of current WHA players and remained with the franchise.
He had a massive impact on the NHL. In his first NHL season, the Great One scored 51 goals and added 86 assists, good for 137 points. That was the lowest total of his time in Edmonton. Over the next nine seasons, he would light the lamp over 50 times every year, while adding over 100 helpers. Further, he scored 137 or more points each year, including four seasons over 200 points. In this time, he had a 92-goal season, a 163-assist season, and a 215-point season, all NHL records.
According to Gretzky's autobiography, Gretzky: An Autobiography, the Oilers shopped their top scoring threat during the 1987-88 season, as owner Peter Pocklington looked to move the contract to have money for other ventures. Gretzky would be traded to the Kings in one of the biggest trades in NHL history. In the 1989 playoffs, the Great One helped the Kings defeat the Oilers after being eliminated by them twice in the previous four seasons.
The Kings need to acquire Connor McDavid
Once again, the Oilers have the best player in the NHL. This time, his name is Connor McDavid. The Oilers have not won a Cup, but have been the best team in the Western Conference the last two seasons. Unlike the Oilers of the 1980s, there is not a major financial reason to let McDavid go other than the fact that the team is paying Leon Draisaitl $14 million. Further, the Kings have been in a similar situation. They have made the playoffs four straight years, only to be eliminated by the Oilers.
McDavid will be a free agent next summer. The Kings, even with re-signing Adrian Kempe and Andrei Kuzmenko, will have enough cap space to pay McDavid whatever he wishes. McDavid has amassed 100 or more points in eight of the last nine seasons, scoring just 97 in the 2019-20 Covid-shortened campaign.
He holds the NHL record for assists in a single playoff season as well, registering 34 assists for the Oilers in 2024, on the way to winning the Conn Smythe. That made him just the fifth player ever to win the award for the playoff MVP without winning the Stanley Cup.
The Oilers and McDavid have yet to agree to a new deal. Expectations were that a deal would be done before the start of the season. With that just two weeks out, it is possible that the deal will not get done. If it becomes clear that McJesus will enter free agency, the Edmonton front office needs to consider trading him.
If the top player in the league is available, Los Angeles should do whatever they can to bring him in. The Kings need a new face of the franchise and a new star. There is no one better than McDavid.
Gretzky never won a Cup with the Kings, but did take them to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Canadiens. If history is repeated, and the Oilers' best player heads to the Kings, maybe McDavid can finally get his name on Lord Stanley's Cup.
