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Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe
There has been a lot of noise around the NHL in recent weeks over the signing of contracts by some high-profile free agents.
It began on the last day of September, when the Minnesota Wild signed winger Kirill Kaprizov, who was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, to an eight-year, $136 million contract, the largest in NHL history.
The next few days saw a pair of restricted free agents, Luke Hughes of New Jersey and Jackson LaCombe of Anaheim, ink new extensions. About a week later, Connor McDavid shocked the industry by signing a team-friendly two-year deal for $25 million to stay with Edmonton, which was quickly followed by Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor and Vegas’ Jack Eichel putting pen to paper on eight-year contracts.
Adrian Kempe Remains Unsigned Amidst Recent Rash of Contract Extensions
But in Los Angeles, where star forward Adrian Kempe has begun the last season of his four-year, $22-million contract, it’s been awfully quiet. John Hoven and Dennis Bernstein of “Kings of the Podcast” talked on Thursday’s episode about the dangers of the Kings allowing Kempe to get frustrated by the situation.
“You don’t want this storyline to continue on very long,” Hoven said.
“Especially, John, if Kempe sees everybody else getting their bag of money and he’s not getting his,” Bernstein stressed. “I think at some point, you say, ‘Well, why did Kyle Connor get paid, and why did Luke Hughes get paid, and why did Jackson LaCombe get paid, and I’m not getting paid yet?’ I think that there’s, maybe subconsciously, I don’t think it would affect his on-ice play, but it’s unsettling for a player like that, that deserves the money, that’s been playing for a sweetheart of a deal for basically four years. He doesn’t owe them a dime off that last one. He’s at five and a half million. I mean, come on.”
LA Kings Analyst Says Adrian Kempe to be Extended ‘Very, Very Soon’
Fortunately, Hoven, the founder and editor of the Kings-focused MayorsManor.com blog, said the storyline may not last much longer.
“I believe that you’re going to hear of a Kempe contract extension being done very, very soon,” he said. “I get the sense that this deal is done, somewhere in the neighborhood of about 11.2 (million dollars per year), plus or minus a couple hundred thousand. I believe that they’re working on some of the final dotting of the I’s and crossing of the T’s, related more to just how it’s distributed over the length of the contract.”
And likely, Bernstein added, some haggling over the size of the signing bonus.
“Everybody wants signing bonuses now, John, that’s the deal,” he said.
“Signing bonuses are all the rage right now,” Hoven agreed.
Getting Kempe locked down would be great news for a Kings organization that, in the opinion of many NHL analysts, did not have the best offseason. With Anze Kopitar announcing his retirement at the end of the season, the Kings would be wise to hang on to their higher quality players. A long-term deal for Kempe would go a long way toward that goal.
Dave Benson is a veteran writer with over three decades of journalism experience covering sports primarily in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dave is also a licensed English teacher and spent several years teaching at the middle school level. More about Dave Benson
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