Adrian Kempe signed an eight-year, $85 million contract with the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. It has an average annual value of $10.625 million.
"I'm really happy," Kempe said. "Feels good. I haven't really been thinking about it too much, just kind of focusing on playing, and then once you get the call that the Kings have agreed ... obviously you get very excited, very happy. Proud of myself. Thankful for teammates, fans, everybody's who's been around, and definitely excited to be here for another eight."
The 29-year-old forward, who is in the final season of a four-year, $22 million contract ($5.5 million AAV) he signed with the Kings on July 10, 2022, could have become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
“We are thrilled to have Adrian signed for the next eight seasons,” Los Angeles general manager Ken Holland said. “He is an elite competitor who’s developed into one of the League's most dynamic two-way forwards, and his growth since joining the Kings organization has been tremendous. Adrian's presence both as a player and a leader is incredibly valuable to the team.
"Throughout this process, both sides were committed to finding a structure that reflects Adrian’s importance to us while keeping our long-term goals of building a team capable of contending every season in mind. We’re excited to have Adrian remain a core part of our organization for years to come.”
Kempe leads the Kings with 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 20 games this season. He scored an NHL career-high 41 goals in 2022-23 and had a career-high 75 points (28 goals, 47 assists) in 2023-24 before getting 73 points (35 goals, 38 assists) in 81 games last season.
Los Angeles, which has won the first four games of a six-game road trip, is first in the Pacific Division.
"We all have the same goal, and obviously we think it's a fair deal for the team and myself as well, and that's what we're looking to do before we signed it," Kempe said. "Obviously, we want to keep adding players in the future, and it's hard to say where the [salary] cap and all that kind of stuff is going and it's hard to predict what players you can add and stuff like that. But I think we’re in a good spot right now. Right now the focus is on this season. Then after that, next year when the contract kicks in, it's a new season. Right now the focus is on the team, and we're playing well right now so we've got to keep that going."
