{"id":368,"date":"2025-09-19T16:13:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T16:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368"},"modified":"2025-09-19T16:13:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T16:13:26","slug":"kings-captain-anze-kopitar-to-retire-after-2025-26-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368","title":{"rendered":"Kings Captain Anze Kopitar to Retire After 2025-26 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7.png 960w, https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Los Angeles Kings captain <strong>Anze Kopitar<\/strong> has announced that the <strong>2025-26 NHL season<\/strong> will mark the end of his illustrious career. The Slovenian-born forward, 38, will retire after <strong>20 seasons<\/strong> in the NHL, all with the Kings, having served as team captain since 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kopitar\u2019s tenure with Los Angeles has been marked by <strong>consistent excellence and leadership<\/strong>, guiding the franchise to <strong>two Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014<\/strong>. Known for his calm presence on the ice and exceptional two-way play, Kopitar has amassed <strong>1,278 points (440 goals, 838 assists) across 1,454 career games<\/strong>, missing just three games in the last five seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at a press conference alongside his wife and two children, Kopitar explained his timing:<br><em>&#8220;I wanted to get this out of the way now, so it\u2019s not a distraction for the team. If we\u2019re fighting down the stretch, the last thing I want is attention on myself instead of the team.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kopitar, the <strong>first Slovenian to play in the NHL<\/strong>, joked about the coincidence of his announcement aligning with <strong>Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw\u2019s retirement<\/strong>, calling it a \u201cperfect moment\u201d to step out of the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over his career, Kopitar has been widely recognized not only for his skill but also for his sportsmanship. He is a <strong>three-time Lady Byng Trophy winner<\/strong> (2015-16, 2022-23, 2024-25) and a <strong>two-time Frank J. Selke Trophy recipient<\/strong> (2015-16, 2017-18) for his excellence as a defensive forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As he enters the final year of his <strong>two-year, $14 million contract extension<\/strong>, Kopitar leaves behind a legacy of leadership, professionalism, and dedication that has defined the Kings for nearly two decades. Fans and teammates alike will look forward to celebrating his contributions in what promises to be a memorable farewell season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar has announced that the 2025-26 NHL season will mark the end of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[399,400,398],"tags":[391,397,396,392,393,395,394],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ice-hockey-news","category-los-angeles-kings","category-nhl","tag-anze-kopitar","tag-frank-j-selke-trophy","tag-lady-byng-trophy","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-nhl-retirement","tag-slovenian-nhl-players","tag-stanley-cup"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kings Captain Anze Kopitar to Retire After 2025-26 Season - GiveMeSoccer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kings Captain Anze Kopitar to Retire After 2025-26 Season - GiveMeSoccer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar has announced that the 2025-26 NHL season will mark the end of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GiveMeSoccer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-19T16:13:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-19T16:13:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3f901e2c578ac225d0041d1165488b9c\"},\"headline\":\"Kings Captain Anze Kopitar to Retire After 2025-26 Season\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-19T16:13:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-19T16:13:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/?p=368#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/givemesoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-7.png\",\"keywords\":[\"#Anze Kopitar\",\"#Frank J. 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