Kings’ Anze Kopitar will finish career without scoring in Toronto
Anze Kopitar has had quite the magnificent NHL career.
Between the two Stanley Cups, the three Lady Byngs, the Mark Messier Leadership Award, two Selke Trophies, and the numerous other accolades, the Los Angeles Kings captain appears to be a surefire bet to make the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Except, somehow, that city has cursed him throughout his whole NHL career.
Perhaps it's the only real anomaly you'll find among ALL of Kopitar's stats in his nearly 1,500 games and 20-year NHL career. It's nuts. Seriously.
The only building he's never scored in (don't really count Delta Center in Utah)https://t.co/0qUQAPfnMo pic.twitter.com/0EMEI9WtPX
After failing to score on Thursday night in an eventual 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kopitar will end his NHL career later this year having never scored a goal in the City of Toronto.
Kopitar has also yet to score in Utah, but the team only debuted in October of 2024.
The Slovenian star has played 28 games against the Maple Leafs in his career, scoring three goals. But all three came in Los Angeles – never at Scotiabank Arena. He also didn’t have a goal during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where, despite an excellent showing with Team Europe, he didn’t score.
Kopitar, who turned 38 in August, announced that 2025-26 would be the final season of his NHL career at the start of training camp. Kopitar has 442 goals and 1,287 points in 1,457 career games with the Kings, who drafted him 11th overall in 2005. Only Marcel Dionne (1,307) has more points in a Kings’ uniform dating back to 1967-68. Kopitar sits 21 points from the all-time team scoring lead, a total he should have no issue blasting this year. He’s up to two goals and nine points in 13 games, and is coming off his fourth 65-plus point campaign in a row.
Kopitar was one of the driving forces behind the Kings’ Stanley Cup championship runs in 2012 and 2014. He served as the first-line center on both rosters and produced a point per game throughout both runs.
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