This past summer, many hockey insiders promised that the 2026 Free Agent class would be one of the best in recent memory. Names like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov, and more were without a contract in the summer of ‘26, and teams were positioning their cap space accordingly in case one of the big fish actually made it to free agency.
Fast forward a few months, and one of the final remaining names was Kings’ forward Adrian Kempe. Drafted 29th overall by Los Angeles in 2014, the Swede has embodied what it means to be a King throughout his time here, shown through his passion, emotion, and strong offensive play, as well as his contributions defensively, including his ability to throw a mean hip check. His all-situations play has made him invaluable to the Kings organization.
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Kempe has steadily improved every year he’s been on the Kings, and through 19 games, he’s on pace for a point-per-game campaign this season. The real value of Kempe, though, is in the postseason. Although the Kings haven’t made it past the first round during Kempe’s tenure with LA, he’s still consistently been the best player on the team in each series. In the four series losses to Edmonton over the past few years, Kempe has recorded 15 goals and 29 points in 24 games, which are both quite comfortably the highest on the team in that span.
Adrian Kempe, extended 8x$10.6M by LA, is a speedy first line scoring winger who thrives off the rush and has a wicked catch-and-shoot wrister that can beat goalies from range. Contributes in all situations and can throw a mean hip check when covering for the D. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/FPEQfvZv1Z
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) November 16, 2025
This consistent play has earned Kempe an 8 year, $85 million contract, which was announced by LA Kings general manager Ken Holland on Monday. The deal is front-loaded, meaning Kempe will earn a larger portion of the contract over the first four years, but this doesn’t affect the AAV (Annual Average Value) at all. There is also a full no-move clause over the first four years, which transitions into a 15 team no-trade clause in years 5-8 of the deal.
The AAV of the contract is $10.625 million, which was lower than expected. With the Colorado Avalanche signing Slovakian forward Martin Necas to an 8 year deal worth $92 million last month, many believed that Kempe’s next contract would be similar. In the end, however, he ended up taking a bit less to stay in LA.
Is this contract worth it?
As long as the Kings want to compete, re-signing Kempe was essential. Although a growing number of fans believe that the current iteration of the Kings aren’t built properly to win a Stanley Cup, the Kings’ front office remains adamant in their approach to stay competitive. In order to do this, Kempe had to be re-signed.
Kempe is going to be 30 years old at the start of the deal. Will the deal age well once he’s in his mid-to-late 30’s?
Simply put, it doesn’t matter. The Kings are aiming to be competitive for the next few years, and he should still be at the top of his game for the duration of the Kings’ self-imposed contention window. Additionally, as long as the salary cap keeps rising, any overpayment of his deal 6 or 7 years down the line will be inconsequential.
In conclusion, now that this saga is over, Kempe can continue playing lights-out hockey, being awkward in interviews, and doing awesome celebrations without any uncertainty about his future.