The Los Angeles Kings announced Anze Kopitar is out week-to-week with a foot injury, and a couple of internal candidates will need to step up in his absence.
The Los Angeles Kings announced on Friday that captain Anze Kopitar will be out week-to-week with a foot injury.
Kopitar suffered this injury during the team's contest against the Minnesota Wild on Monday, as he took a puck to the foot.
On Thursday night, the Kings played against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Kopitar was a game-time decision for that contest. However, he didn’t come out for warmups and decided not to suit up for LA.
Los Angeles went on to lose that game 4-2 in disappointing fashion as they had a 2-0 lead earlier in the outing, and the Penguins scored a shorthanded goal, which turned out to be the game-winning marker.
After the game, head coach Jim Hiller provided a brief update on Kopitar.
Kings Coach Hiller Points To Penguins' Goaltending And Special Teams As The Difference In 4-2 Loss
Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller points to what he thinks went wrong against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The opposition's goaltending is at the top of the list for him.
“We’re going to take a closer look at it still probably in the morning and then maybe we might have a better update for you tomorrow,” Hiller told reporters after their 4-2 defeat. “We’re still kind of evaluating where it’s at.”
Kopitar hasn’t missed many games recently for the Kings. In the last eight seasons ahead of this 2025-26 campaign, LA’s captain has only missed four games across the regular season and post-season.
Not to mention, this is Kopitar’s final NHL season before retirement, as he mentioned going into this campaign.
The Kings have five games in the next nine days, and with Kopitar listed as week-to-week, chances are he could miss all those contests.
Two big matchups include LA’s tilt against the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, and the Dallas Stars next Thursday, who have visited the Western Conference final three times in a row.
This will be a big loss for the Kings, both on the ice and in the dressing room, as the team’s leader.
Nonetheless, it opens up an opportunity down the middle of the ice for players such as Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte to grow and mature into consistent centermen in the NHL.
The Kings have lost four out of the first five games of this season and are dropping down the standings early. A loss like this could only drag the team further down unless Hiller’s team can find solutions from within.