Anze Kopitar has proven that he wants to stay in So Cal and help take LA into the cliched sunset. It was announced late last night that he signed a 7 YEAR DEAL!!! When I awoke to a text from Marie about the extension sans terms, I thought it would have run along the lines of four (4) years or so. Maybe five, if the Kings were lucky. But 7 years is honestly what we as fans needed to hear after spending the whole summer wondering what the fate of Patrick O'Sullivan would be. I haven't the slightest idea what the dollar amount will be. When compared to the other guys on the roster, maybe $5-6 million per year. But when looking at the other players around the league, it could easily be for $6-7. I will venture a guess and say that it will be heavily front-loaded. By the time his contract is halfway over, Sully will need to make a decision on whether or not he wants to stay in LA and some of the more highly-touted prospects will need to be paid, Jonathan Bernier, Thomas Hickey, and Drew Doughty.

We still have a few players who will need to be signed to extensions before this season ends. Matt Moulson re-signed for one year (08-09), and I'm sure his contract signing beyond this season will take a bit longer than the other two Manchester boys, Teddy Purcell and Brian Boyle. After the latter two disappointed in training camp, I'm wondering what they will sign for. Originally I was plenty scared that those two would be asking for a good chuck of cash, but it now appears that they will need to finish rounding out their game before they can solidify a space on the roster. The scariest of the bunch is Jack Johnson. I'm SO curious to know how much Kopi signed for because that should give us an indication of how much Jack may potentially ask for. In any case, before the puck has even dropped the Kings have reigned in two more of the core. I am as happy as happy can be.

Sidenote: Per the press release, Kopi's 7-year contract is the second longest ever signed by a King. The longest was 8 years by Wayne Gretzky in 1988.


[Update:] The Kings inked Kopi to a 7-year, $47.6 million contract. This is momentous. It's within the range that other top flight players are making today, but it's not grossly obscene. I think it's well deserved, and, hey, it's LA. It's not like we're Detroit where people are willing to sign for crackerjack boxes. This is a team that is slowly but surely going to be great. I'm so unbelievably happy that I actually don't care if we win or lose tonight. I just want effort.