“He deserves to go out of Stanley Cup champion and we want to strive to make that happen for him.”
Competitive players should strive to make the postseason for themselves and for their teammates. So, regardless of whether or not this was Anze Kopitar’s last season, the drive to qualify for the playoffs should have been there within the Kings. It’s the NHL, after all. There has been no denying, though, the extra push that Kopitar’s final season has given the group.
“I think that we have a lot of competitive guys in here who wanted to make it, but it’s definitely a bump, we want to send Kopi off with a playoff run,” forward Trevor Moore said. “We owe him that much and the organization owes him that much. We’re happy we were able to [get in].”
When the Kings formally clinched their place in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday, they gave their captain the chance to go out the way he wants to – meaningful, playoff games. Certainly, as forward Alex Laferriere said in the above quote, the way he truly wants to go out is as a champion. And what a storybook ending that would be if the Kings can achieve it.
That’s somewhat within the Kings’ control, but there are 16 teams now with that same goal, many of which with shorter odds than the Kings. To reach this point, however, is step one.
When Dustin Brown was in his final season back in 2022, he spoke about how getting the chance to compete for that trophy one final time was just extremely meaningful to him. His last game was a Game 7 that didn’t go his way. But it was a Game 7, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the chance to keep playing on the line. That meant something to him.
Who knows when Kopitar’s final game will be. What game, what round or what the outcome will be. But it’ll be a playoff game. For his teammates, that means something.
“He’s done everything, so much for the organization and the city, everyone in the room, so I think we owe it to him to give everything we’ve got to try and make a run, give him another chance to go for it,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “The first step was getting in and now we’ve got to be ready. It’s a big motivation for us. You want to do it for him and leave it all out there.”
It’s been extremely evident here over Kopitar’s final season how much he means to his teammates.
There’s an aura around someone who is the greatest player in franchise history, but is also someone who is talked about as a person before a player. He’s been one hell of a player, but it’s the personal side that his teammates have gotten to know that has seemingly meant that much more. Says something. I mean, how do you possibly top 1,500 games and the franchise record for points, on top of two Stanley Cup championships and numerous individual accolades?
Kopitar found a way. That’s a guy worth playing for.
“He’s been such an incredible person for me to learn from, from my first game, getting to walk in with him before my first NHL game and just getting to sit on it next to him on the plane now, kind of picking his brain and stuff,” Laferriere added. “He’s just been such an unbelievable player for so many years but he’s just been an unbelievable guy, too. He deserves the world and he deserves to go out a Stanley Cup Champion.”
Going out a Stanley Cup champion. Wouldn’t that be something.
It’s the storybook ending that every player wants but few actually get. Whether a player’s retirement was known or not coming in, it’s extremely rare that you see anyone actually get that dream conclusion to a legendary career. If this is Alexander Ovechkin’s final season, he’ll go out in the regular season. You can be a part of one of the greatest regular seasons in NHL history, like say a Patrice Bergeron was, or a part of a team that went on a late run just to qualify, as Kopitar did here with the Kings. You never know. All we do know is that you have to get in to go on a run and the Kings have given Kopitar the chance to do that, with the captain more than pulling his own weight, especially down the stretch.
“I think it had a lot to do with it, guys were playing for him, but let’s not discount the fact that he’s played really well,” Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith said. “He gets one more chance to play at home and now we’ve got to get ourselves ready for whoever we’re playing and give ourselves a chance.”
For Kopitar, he’s here. He’s back in the dance. And that is important, both to himself and to his teammates.
“That’s what it’s about,” forward Quinton Byfield added. “You obviously want to do it for one another, but at the beginning of the year, we talked about it, we wanted to give Kopi another shot. What he’s done for the organization, it’s the least we can do. We’re always playing for each other, but obviously for him as well. He’s our leader. I feel like we really stepped up our game because of that.”
Now, we wait to see where the Kings will play next for Kopitar. Thursday’s regular-season finale in Calgary will go a long way towards figuring that out. The Kings could play Game 1 in no less than five cities, including Los Angeles. They’ll get a bit of clarity tonight, as Vegas hosts Seattle in its own Game 82, but we’ll go into puck drop tomorrow with an unknown, depending on the Kings/Flames result, as well as Ducks/Predators and Oilers/Canucks. Nothing like a little last-game chaos to end the season. Will cover that tomorrow in full, during the game preview.
