This is a very crucial regular season upcoming for head coach Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference this fall. The Kings have multiple new pieces on the roster from this past free agent cycle, brought in by new general manager Ken Holland earlier this offseason.
Could a contract extension be in the future for Los Angeles Kings star winger Adrian Kempe this season?
The Kings have more veteran depth and proven experience on the roster to make a deeper run this upcoming postseason in the Pacific Division, including signing veteran forward Corey Perry and an impending extension contract for winger Adrian Kempe.
Kempe is due for a large contract extension deal this upcoming season, especially after the Minnesota Wild signed star forward Kirill Kaprizov to the largest contract price in NHL history. Kaprizov signed a contract with the Wild for a total of $136 million over eight years (worth $17 million in average annual value).
Kempe is a massive part of the Kings’ top-six forward lines in the offensive core this upcoming season. He’s led the Kings in goal scoring in the past three seasons, and he’s scored just shy of 150 goals in the past four campaigns combined for LA.
It sounds like with the Kaprizov contract extension earlier this fall, Kempe could be looking at a contract extension with the Kings worth at least in the ballpark of $10-$11 million. Kempe scored 35 goals and 73 total points for the Kings this past season. He’s also a standout offensive producer in the postseason in the playoffs for the Kings, scoring at least four goals in three straight playoff runs for LA (since 2022-2023).
The combination of the Kaprizov record-breaking contract extension and the expansion of the salary cap in the league in the NHL this offseason makes it likely that Kempe gets a large pay raise on his next contract past $5.5 million in average annual value.
The Hockey Writers’ Jim Parsons wrote on Oct. 4 that Kempe could be one of the “players who could be way overpaid” in the fallout from the Kaprizov contract signing for $17 million in average annual value this fall in the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.