Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar announced Thursday that the 2025-26 NHL season will be his last.

Kopitar will retire after his 20th season in the NHL, all of them spent with the Kings. He’s been the team’s captain since 2016 and helped the franchise win two Stanley Cups (2012, 2014).

Kopitar, 38, revealed his decision at a press conference with his wife and two children by his side.

“Why announce now? I just felt that, in a simple way to put it, I want to get this out of the way now, to where I’m not a distraction for the team,” Kopitar said. “For example, if we’re in a fight coming down the stretch, the last thing I want to do is take any attention away from the team and put it on myself. I just felt that this is the best time.”

Kopitar is entering the final year of a two-year,

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