Kopitar's cost a lesser of 2 evils for Kings
When it's said and finished, Anze Kopitar will have (at minimum) two Stanley Cups and roughly $130 million in career earnings. He'll have his No. 11 hung from the rafters at one of the busiest sporting venues in North America. He'll have franchise records galore and a mantle at home crowded with deserved recognition.
But even then, his greatness will be up to interpretation.
To most fans (or at least the ones who value their sleep) Kopitar is enigmatic. They know his brilliance, and that morning highlights and nightly boxscores don't quite do him justice. But at the same time, really? Eight seasons at $10 million per for a guy who averages 73 points?
Related: Kings, Kopitar finally settle eight-year extension
Well, it's true. Kopitar, through six months of taxing negotiations that may or may not have turned a little sour, didn't offer his perpetually cap-strapped club with an assuaging discount. Right now, he stands to be the third-highest paid player in the league behind the Chicago Blackhawks' duo of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. He'll take up about 15 percent of Los Angeles' cap with the ominous state of the loonie threatening to restrict payroll parameters.
His rigid negotiation might limit Milan Lucic's tenure to one season, pressurize future talks with Tyler Toffoli, and slap the goat horns on Dustin Brown. But from what we know, what we've heard and seen and what statistics we can discern, Kopitar checks out. Every time.
Kopitar is the engine of the Kings' downhill-running quick strike offense, but a defensive pillar first. He controls the flow better than anyone, commanding the puck and dominating possession. He wins draws and kills penalties. And he does all this with remarkable consistency, evidenced best by only an incremental dip in his point-per-game output in 70 postseason games. Steven Stamkos (in just a random comparison) sees his production tail off by about a quarter point.
Pretending the deal won't place the Kings in a vise, though, would be silly.
Kopitar is in his 10th season. He'll have at least 850 games of NHL tread on his person (which is more than halfway to Shane Doan) before the $80 million extension finalized Saturday kicks in. He's shown no signs of slowing down, but it's impossible to predict when one will hit the wall.
But it's hard to imagine that time won't come before 2024.
Los Angeles will have a lot of money tied to a lot of 30-somethings in a half decade or so, which is going to make sustaining its success mighty difficult. But while Dean Lombardi isn't immune to bad contracts, he and the Kings are in no position to apply half measures.
Before Kopitar's skills diminish, and Jeff Carter and Jonathan Quick can no longer shoulder the load for a contender, maximizing this window and funneling every resource to win a third and perhaps fourth Cup over the next few seasons is really the only option.
It's all or nothing, or better yet, all then nothing for Kopitar's Kings.
Caution, if you like. But that will always be an enviable position.