The Los Angeles Kings formally clinched their place in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday, and the message in the room was clear: they want to keep playing for Anze Kopitar. Forward Trevor Moore said the group wanted to make it for Kopitar and for the organization, while defenseman Mikey Anderson said the team owes him everything it has and wants to give him another chance to go for it.
Kopitar, who is being framed as being in his final season, has played 1,500 games for the Kings and holds the franchise record for points. He has won two Stanley Cup championships, and teammates said the push now is to send him off with one more deep run. Alex Laferriere said Kopitar has been an unbelievable player for so many years and an unbelievable guy, adding that he deserves to go out as a Stanley Cup champion.
That is the weight behind Monday’s clinch. The Kings are not just extending their season; they are extending the last chapter of the career of the player widely described as the greatest in franchise history. There are 16 teams with the same goal, and for Los Angeles, the stakes now sit in a far more personal place than a simple playoff berth.
Moore said the Kings are full of competitive players who wanted to get in, but that the result carries extra meaning because of Kopitar. He said the team is happy to have secured its place and that it owes him and the organization that much. Anderson made the same point, saying Kopitar has done everything for the organization, the city and everyone in the room, and that the first step was getting in before the team could be ready for what comes next.
The tension in that sentiment is hard to miss. Los Angeles has already done the part that can be measured in standings and points, but the broader test begins now, against a field that includes 16 teams chasing the same trophy. The Kings can speak about legacy all they want; they still have to turn the sympathy of a farewell season into wins against opponents who do not care who the run is for.
That emotional frame is familiar in Los Angeles. Dustin Brown spoke during his final season in 2022 and said getting the chance to compete for the trophy one last time was extremely meaningful to him. Kopitar’s teammates are now reaching for the same idea, hoping the coming weeks can turn appreciation into one more spring of hockey that matters.
What happens next is simple and severe: the Kings enter the playoffs with a veteran centerpiece at the heart of the story and no guarantee that sentiment will carry them anywhere. If this is Kopitar’s last run, his teammates have already said they intend to make it count.
