Kopitar, Kings could finalize contract Friday: report

Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar will sign a new contract Friday, LAKingsInsider.com reported Thursday.

TSN reported Wednesday that Kopitar and the Kings were in the final stages of completing an eight-year, $80 million contract.

Kopitar, 28, is in the final season of a seven-year contract worth $47.6 million, according to war-on-ice.com.

Kopitar and the Kings have been negotiating for more than six months. The Kings have the ability to sign him to an eight-year contract as the holder of his current contract. If Kopitar decided to sign with another team after reaching free agency, the maximum allowable contract under rules of the collective bargaining agreement would be seven years.

The reported numbers mean Kopitar's salary-cap charge would be the third-highest in the NHL. Chicago Blackhawks forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each are at $10.5 million a season. Kopitar would become the highest-paid player on the Kings, supplanting defenseman Drew Doughty, who makes $7 million a season.

Kopitar, the No. 11 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has 12 goals and 35 points in 42 games this season.

Kopitar's final contract numbers could impact the negotiations between forward Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Like Kopitar, Stamkos is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1.