It’s nothing new – Adrian Kempe is once again elevating his game in the postseason

Through two playoff games, Kings forward Adrian Kempe stands alone atop the NHL’s scoring charts.

While we haven’t seen Kempe leading the league, elevating his game at this time of the year is nothing we haven’t seen before.

Over the past four seasons, Kempe has skated in all 20 playoff games the Kings have played. He’s scored 14 times across those 20 games, bolstered by two goals in last night’s 6-2 victory in Game 2. In doing so, Kempe now ranks atop the NHL in another category, on top of, you know, 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff scoring. Over the last four postseasons, no player in the league with at least 20 games played has a better goals-per-game pace than Kempe, who checks in at 0.7.

7 points in 2 games and the 0.7 goals-per-game…..guess 7’s are wild right now for number 9.

In a 6-2 Game 2 victory, Kempe was not alone in elevating his game. But there just something about the way he plays when the calendar flips to playoffs that just seems to truly thrive.

“Just trying to play hard and strong, trying to make the right plays every shift,” he said. “[I want to] play like every shift matters, like it’s the last game you’ll ever play. It’s the most fun part of the season for sure.”

Like it’s the last game you’ve ever played. Sounds like a man on a mission in the postseason.

In last season’s five-game series defeat, the Kings didn’t have a ton of players who stepped up their games but you certainly can’t include Kempe in that bucket. The winger buried four goals in five games after he netted five goals in six games played the season prior. Now he’s got three from his first two here in 2025, pacing the Kings once again at the offensive end of the ice, with four assists to boot.

This isn’t to suggest anyone should be surprised. Those around the Kings certainly aren’t.

The Kramfors, Sweden native scored 35 goals this season, the third time in the last four regular season he’s scored at least that many. He’s actually averaged 35 goals per season over his last four campaigns, while surpassing 70 points in the past two, as he’s continued the transition from goalscorer to simply an elite player in this league. You might argue he’s pretty far along in that transition, as he continues to raise his game when the stakes are greatest.

What’s most impressive about it is that this is the playoffs. Regular-season games over the past few seasons have seen 6.2 goals scored per game on average. It’s not a drastic difference, but it dropped to 5.7 on a per-game basis in the postseason. A goal every other game. It’s a small margin. But the point remains. The games tighten up in the playoffs. The intensity rises. Scoring goals becomes harder, as time and space is reduced and teams become more committed and firmer in the defensive zone.

Yet, Kempe has scored at a higher pace in the postseason than he has in the regular season. Sample size naturally factors in and Edmonton is a higher-scoring team than most, so perhaps they’re a playoff outlier. But for a player who has a pretty-impressive pace in the regular season, to see that total nearly double in the playoffs is fine work.

“It’s remarkable, just his ability to execute every little play,” defenseman Brandt Clarke said, following the Game 2 victory. “He gets on the scoresheet, makes the big plays, but he also does every little detail properly. He’s getting back, he’s the first guy back all the time, everything he does is so crisp. We’re really happy to have him.”

So what’s responsible for his success?

As Clarke mentioned, Kempe is a 200-foot player. He gets on the scoresheet, certainly, but he’s been a terrific backchecker. He’s comfortable with difficult matchups. He’s a penalty killer. A lot of the things coaches appreciate, especially coming from their leading scorer.

“When you look at the guys who score, and they’re penalty killers as well, usually the coach puts those guys on there that they trust,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said of Kempe. “So, when they get that from the coach, you know that they’re an all-around player.”

Hiller additionally pointed to three areas of Kempe’s game – on top of his track record of putting the net – as to why his game might translate so well come the postseason.

Compete. Work Ethic. Tenacity, both with and without the puck.

“He competes,” Hiller said. “We’re talking about Kempe, who is a 30-goal scorer, 40-goal scorer, 30-goal scorer, so it’s not like he hadn’t had a proven track record of scoring. I think one thing that we all appreciate about Adrian is his work ethic, his tenacity, with and without the puck……I think that type of game translates pretty well into the playoffs. I think that’s probably why you’re seeing him being a pretty consistent playoff performer.”

It’s not a switch that flips, though.

Kempe said his mindset doesn’t change between Game 82 and Game 83. That part of his game is the same. Or, if it does, he’s not conscious of it.

It isn’t as if Kempe is trying to play the game differently, per say. And I think most would agree that Kempe has those tools in the regular season as well. But there just seems to be something that takes that next step come playoff time.

“It’s hard to say my mindset changes from a playoff game to a regular season game,” Kempe said. “You’re a little more focused, I think you play a little bit more on the edge. Everybody’s playing their best game, their hardest game right now. I think for me, I’m trying to do the same thing and maybe bring out some extra positive things in my game.”

On a wider scale, Kempe has certainly begun to garner more recognition than he has previously.

I got a text from a friend on the East Coast during Game 2. Said that “Kempe might be the least known star in the league.”

He knew him. Knew he was good. But I’m not sure how much people who don’t watch the Kings nightly know just HOW good Kempe is. Because he is quite good. And maybe people are starting to find out.

Hiller wonder if the 4 Nations Faceoff, when Kempe impressed with Team Sweden, was perhaps the beginning of an eye-opener. Kempe scored just once in that tournament but the things that make him such an important part of the Kings were on display. It’s that tenacity. It’s that compete. That work ethic. Kempe is that type of player who can excel in a number of different roles and Hiller felt he did so on the international stage.

Just ask Warren Foegele if Kempe is a bit overlooked around the NHL. Foegele would know perhaps better than any teammate, considering his place on the Oilers roster over the last few series.

“He’s one of the more underrated players in the league,” Foegele said.

Simple enough.

Foegele has had to play against Kempe for the better part of the last three years, so he had a front-row seat to watching him. Or the task of grinding against him on the ice. Certainly seemed happy to have him on his side this time around.

“Big body, great skater, great release and he plays hard,” Foegele added. “He’s physical and he’s got that bite to him that’s kind of annoying to play against, but he’s also a threat with the puck. Happy to have him on our team.”

The ultimate description of Kempe, I think, stems from what he said above.

Playing like it’s the last game he’ll ever play.

With that type of mentality, an envious ability to beat a goaltender clean and the two-way traits valued in the Kings organization, Kempe will continue to lead the way for several last games to come. And that’s terrific news as the team heads into Game 3.