Anze Kopitar became the Los Angeles Kings’ all-time leader in games played when he skated 22:59 of a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
The 36-year-old center from Slovenia played his 1,297th NHL game, all for Los Angeles, to pass Dustin Brown as the most-tenured member of the Kings and further cement himself among the greatest to lace up their skates for L.A.
But is Kopitar the best to play for Los Angeles in its rich history?
We asked eight NHL.com writers for their choice as the greatest to play for the Kings. Here, in alphabetical order, are their answers.
Dustin Brown
Brown was a heart-and-soul player for 18 NHL seasons, all with the Kings. I appreciated his style of play because not only was he a prolific point-producer, but he was fearless in the corners and relentless on the puck. He became the second United States-born player to captain a team to the Stanley Cup (Derian Hatcher, Dallas Stars, 1999) in 2012 and 2014 and joined Luc Robitaille and Wayne Gretzky as the only former Kings to have statues outside Crypto.com Arena. Brown, tied with Anze Kopitar as the Los Angeles leader in games played (1,296), ranks seventh on the Kings' all-time scoring list 712 points (325 goals, 387 assists). He's also third in NHL history with 3,632 hits, the most by a U.S. player since the statistic was added in 2005-06. He retired after the 2021-22 season and the Kings retired his No. 23 on Feb. 11. -- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer
Marcel Dionne
As prolific a goal scorer as there ever has been in the NHL, Dionne was the face of the Kings for 12 seasons and one of their first superstars. Dionne’s Hall of Fame career saw him total 1,771 points (731 goals, 1,040 assists) in 1,348 games with the Detroit Red Wings, Kings and New York Rangers, placing him sixth on the League all-time scoring list. The native of Drummondville, Quebec, was a six-time 50-goal scorer, all with Los Angeles, and reached the 100-point plateau eight times, seven with the Kings. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer in 1979-80 with 137 points (53 goals, 84 assists) beating out a young Gretzky by scoring two more goals that season. A two-time Lester B. Pearson Award Winner (now the Ted Lindsay Award) as most outstanding player voted by the NHL Players' Association and two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner for sportsmanship and gentlemanly play, Dionne holds the Kings' all-time scoring record with 1,307 points (550 goals, 757 assists) in 921 games. It’s a total unlikely to ever be surpassed. -- Derek Van Diest, Staff writer
Drew Doughty
Now in his 16th season with Los Angeles, having played 1,099 games, I would argue Doughty is the best defenseman in Kings history. And I think you can take that argument up a notch and argue for Doughty as Los Angeles' all-time best player. He has 621 points (142 goals, 479 assists), 127 points more than the next closest defenseman (Rob Blake) and ninth among all players in Kings history. He won the Norris Trophy, voted as the NHL's best defenseman, in 2015-16 and finished second twice. He helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup twice, nearly winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2014 in the process, because he plays the biggest when the games are the biggest. Still just 33 years old, Doughty has averaged more than 26 minutes per game during a career that has plenty of time to place him ever higher among the NHL’s greats. -- Amalie Benjamin, NHL.com staff writer
Wayne Gretzky
No one has been greater in L.A. than The Great One was from 1988-96, even though others compiled higher totals and won championships, even though Gretzky had his best seasons and won most of his hardware with the Edmonton Oilers earlier. Gretzky won the Hart Trophy, voted as NHL most valuable player in 1988-89 and Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion in 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1993-94. No one else has won the Hart with the Kings. One other player has won the Art Ross -- Dionne in 1979-80. Gretzky is Los Angeles' all-time leader in points per game in the regular season (1.70) and Stanley Cup Playoffs (1.57) among those with more than three games played. He considers his greatest game his hat trick in a 5-4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals, which carried the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
Anze Kopitar
Gretzky is probably the most important player in Kings history because of his impact on the market during his eight seasons there, and Dionne and Robitaille were great scorers for Los Angeles. But Kopitar has been the best and most complete player during his 18 seasons here. With 1,146 points, he’s closing in on Robitaille (1,154) for second in that category, and with 751 assists, he’s seven from passing Dionne (757) for most in Kings history. He’s also reliable defensively, winning the Selke Trophy as the League’s top defensive forward twice (2015-16, 2017-18), and he won the Lady Byng Trophy for “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability” twice (2015-16, 2022-23). In addition, Kopitar was a clutch contributor to Los Angeles winning the Cup twice, tying Brown for the NHL lead with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2012 and leading all scorers with 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 26 playoff games in 2014. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer
Luc Robitaille
The ninth-round pick (No. 171) of the 1984 NHL Draft ... doesn’t sound like an introduction for one of the 100 greatest players in League history. But that’s where Robitaille was selected and he made a tremendous impact on the NHL and, of course, the Kings. Robitaille had three playing stints with Los Angeles (1986-94, 1997-2001 and 2003-06), finishing with 1,154 points (557 goals, 597 assists) in 1,077 games there. He totaled 1,394 points (668 goals, 726 assists) in 1,431 career NHL games with the Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Rangers and Red Wings and is the second highest-scoring left wing in League history behind Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (1,486 points). Though Robitaille won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002, he’s synonymous with Los Angeles and is still making an impact off the ice as Kings president. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
Dave Taylor
Gretzky, Dionne, Robitaille and Rogie Vachon may have been faces of the franchise, but Taylor was its backbone. A 15th-round (No. 210) pick from Clarkson University in the 1975 NHL Draft, he went on to score 1,069 points (431 goals, 638 assists) in 1,111 regular-season games, all with Los Angeles. A member of the Triple Crown Line with Dionne and Charlie Simmer, Taylor scored at least 20 goals 12 times, at least 30 six times and at least 40 three gimes, including an NHL career-high 47 in 1980-81. He ranks third in Kings history in goals, fourth in points, third in power-play goals (123) and fourth in career playoff points (59). In 1991, he won the Masterton Trophy for exemplifying “the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey” and the King Clancy Trophy for leadership qualities on and off the ice and for making a “noteworthy contribution in his community.” Taylor retired a King following the 1993-94 season and became a Kingmaker as general manager from 1997-2006. Kopitar (2005), Brown (2003) and Jonathan Quick (2005) were among those drafted during his tenure. -- William Douglas, staff writer
Rogie Vachon
The goalie was the first legitimate superstar with the Kings, arriving in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 4, 1971 in a trade that sent four players to Montreal. In seven seasons with the Kings, a huge fan favorite who was the team’s best marketing tool, the 2016 Hockey Hall of Famer compiled a record of 171-148-66 with a 2.86 goals-against averge, .901 save percentage and 32 shutouts. He remains second to Quick on the team’s all-time goalies list for games played (389), wins and shutouts, and was named NHL Player of the Year by The Hockey News in 1974-75, when he was 27-14-13 with a 2.24 GAA, six shutouts and a League-leading .927 save percentage. Vachon’s impact on the team was recognized on Feb. 14, 1985 when his No. 30 became the first number retired by the Kings. He would return to Los Angeles after his playing career to serve in myriad capacities, most famously the team’s general manager from 1984-92; the Kings’ legendary acquisition of Gretzky from the Oilers happened on his watch. -- Dave Stubbs, columnist
