The Los Angeles Kings and forward Adrian Kempe have agreed to a four-year, $22 million deal, The Athletic has learned.
Kempe led Los Angeles with a career-high 35 goals and added 19 assists during a breakout 2021-22 season.
The 25-year-old Swede was drafted by the Kings at No. 29 in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He signed a three-year, $6 million contract extension with the team in 2019.
The Kings finished third in the Pacific Division this year, and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
Is this a good deal for the Kings?
Shayna Goldman, staff writer: Kempe’s contract comes in above his market value, which on average over the next seven years is $3.4 million. It is, however, a bit more team-friendly than Evolving-Hockey projected for the forward. Their model had a five-year contract with a $6 million cap hit. But for a four-year deal, Evolving-Hockey had a $5.7 million average annual value which is just a bit more lucrative than his actual $5.5 million cap hit.
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How impressive was Kempe last season?
Goldman: Kempe had a career year for the Kings, scoring 54 points in 78 games, and reaching the 35-goal mark. Even when accounting for ice time, especially after two condensed seasons, 2021-22 still ranks as the best in point production with 2.24 points per 60 in all situations. Below the surface at five-on-five, the forward made a positive impact on the team’s offensive creation, but there’s still some work to be done in his own zone. Still, having a player of this caliber is important to the forward group. His finishing ability helped him notch more goals than expected, and that’s exactly what this team needs.
Remaining offseason priorities for the Kings
Goldman: Acquiring an impact forward in Kevin Fiala and extending Kempe check off two really important boxes for the Kings' offseason. Now it’s just a matter of shoring up the forward group a bit more and either extending pending free-agent defenders (there’s two key RFAs in Mikey Anderson and Sean Durzi, along with UFAs in Alexander Elder, Olli Maatta and Troy Stecher) or finding replacements for those who walk.