Early Monday, LA Kings Insider reported that Kings GM Dean Lombardi used a baseball metaphor to describe contract talks with star center Anze Kopitar. It was not a metaphor fans of the team were likely happy to hear. Per Lombardi, the Kings and Kopitar are "not even in the ballpark" in their talks. Kopitar, 28, is currently set to enter the final year of a seven-year, $47.6 million deal he signed in Sep. of 2009. While there remains ample time for the two sides to come to agreement on a new deal before his current pact expires, it seems, per a report from Craig Custance of ESPN, that Kopitar is unwilling to continue negotiations once the season starts. And considering Custance himself is hearing that the Kings and Kopitar are "a good couple million per season apart," and the Kings start training camp on Sep. 18, that doesn't leave a lot of time for a new agreement to be hammered out prior to the season.
Of course, the Kings could very well wait to see how the nine-year NHL vet performs in 2015-16 before locking him up with a new long-term deal, but there's likely little reason to wait. Then again, if Kopitar is looking to the twin eight-year, $84 million contracts signed by Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews last July as his template for a new contract, then it's not surprising there has been a delay in the team hammering out a long-term deal for their No. 1 center.
The Kings are also facing the proposition of Milan Lucic as an unrestricted free agent after next season and the eventual extensions for young players like Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. While Lombardi should have nearly $20 million cap space to work with next offseason, it's likely the term as much as the AAV that's holding up Kopitar signing on the dotted line and both sides will have to make some concessions if a deal is to be struck.
