"This Is My Home" - Adrian Kempe on New Extension!

“This is my home and this is where I wanted to be.”

Adrian Kempe never wavered in his desire to sign a long-term contract extension with the Kings. He said it over the summer when he attended the NHL's Player Media Tour in Las Vegas. He reinforced that point on the first day of training camp. He’s said it in multiple post-game interviews since. But still, as the weeks went by, Kempe remained unsigned.

Until Sunday.

News started breaking around dinner time that Kempe and the Kings had agreed to an eight-year extension that would cement Kempe’s status as a key member of the organization for years to come. An organization that Kempe has called home since he was drafted back in 2014 and an organization that he will continue to call home for the foreseeable future.

“I'm very happy,” Kempe said of signing his extension. “I haven't really been thinking about it too much, just kind of focus on playing, but once you get the call, everything's agreed on, you obviously get very excited, very happy. I’m proud of myself, thankful for teammates, fans, everybody that’s been around. I’m just excited to be here for another eight years.”

Ultimately, it was a slight discount on Kempe’s side that got the deal over the line.

As Kempe maintained that he wanted to remain in Los Angeles, Kings management maintained that they wanted Kempe to remain in Los Angeles as well. Led by General Manager Ken Holland, it's been said several times that the Kings wanted to find a deal that worked with Kempe, a deal that compensated the player fairly for his importance, but also a deal that leaves the Kings enough flexibility to build around Kempe and other core pieces.

At the end of the day, Kempe could have held out for a higher number. He certainly would’ve gotten more had he tested the open market. But to stay, he was ultimately the one who decided to take a little bit less to get things across the line. While it’s not the only thing that will help, that potentially assists the Kings as they look to secure additional high-end talent down the road, with the process of replacing Anze Kopitar this summer and continuing to build their roster an ongoing thing

“We all have the same goal,” Kempe said. “For the team and for myself, that's what we were looking to do before we signed it. We want to keep adding players in the future and it's hard to say where the cap and all that kind of stuff is going, so it's hard to predict what players you can add and stuff like that, but I think we're in a good spot right now.”

Now, that’s not to say Kempe was not well compensated. He did, after all, just agree to a contract that will pay him $85 million over the next eight seasons. It’s the second-largest contract ever given out in Kings history, only trailing Drew Doughty’s eight-year extension at $88 million. That is, uh, certainly not nothing.

Throughout the process of reaching this point, Kempe wasn’t all that involved after he got into training camp until the end.

His preference was to defer most of that negotiation to his agent, J.P. Berry. He was more involved at the start, but he made it clear to his representation and the Kings that once it was time to play, he wanted to focus on playing. He maintained that he was never in a rush to sign and I think that comes from two sides that always wanted to get something done.

It certainly didn’t seem to affect his play, as Kempe sat at a point-per-game pace as he signed his name on the line. But while he wasn’t in a major rush to get it there, it was still a nice feeling when it finally came.

“Once the season started, I was not in a rush, I didn't want to focus on it too much,” he said. “I'm very happy just to get it done and excited to be here.”

That feeling of being excited extended beyond just Kempe himself.

Forward Kevin Fiala was happy to see Kempe get rewarded, to lock in a potential running mate for the foreseeable future. As arguably the team’s two most dynamic scorers, they’re together to help usher in a new wave offensively for the organization, with Fiala under contract for three more seasons after this one.

“Very nice to see that he got rewarded,” Fiala said. “It’s done now and that’s very nice for him and for the team. We’re very excited to have him here for another eight years, it’s going to be very exciting.”

Head Coach Jim Hiller is certainly happy to have him as well.

Certainly can’t blame him here. Kempe has become an impact player in all situations, with his versatility and ability to do so many things the right way, he is a massive asset for any coach, Hiller included.

Hiller has leaned heavily on Kempe, playing him 19:13 over the last two seasons as the team’s head coach, the most among Kings forwards in that span. Certainly a guy he'd like to keep around.

“We're really happy for him,” Hiller said. “He's been here for a long time, important player for the team and I think for the organization, homegrown, so lots of good stuff there. He gets his money, and we get our player, so everybody's happy.”

As we go forward, Kempe’s impact on the Kings could continue to grow.

That’s saying something, because he’s already pretty darn impactful. But with Anze Kopitar set to retire at the end of the season, locking in Kempe for eight years became that much more critical.

There’s certainly the on-ice component, as Kopitar has led the way in that area for so long. But Kempe leads the Kings in scoring this season, as he did last year and as he did in 2023-24. The two seasons before that, Kempe led the Kings in goals. He’s been a rising star offensively and he’s already helped to lessen the burden that Kopitar carried for so long. At times, the captain was seemingly driving the bus himself. Kempe's been a big help and a big player to help carry the load when Kopitar does hang them up.

Where Kempe has also grown is in the leadership department, which will be a massive hole to fill. Kopitar is among the most respected leaders in the NHL. It’s not just going to be Kempe who needs to step up but as he’s grown as a player, Kempe has taken on more of a presence in the locker room. He’s not the most vocal guy around, but people seem to listen when he speaks. When Drew Doughty has b een out over the last couple seasons, it’s been Kempe, along with defenseman Mikey Anderson, who has worn the second “A” on the sweater.

As he enters the eight-year extension, at some point soon, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see that letter be a permanent thing.

“We've just seen him, since I've been here, grow as a player and I think as a leader of the team,” Hiller added. I think he's low maintenance for the coach and I think as a teammate, he's always there for his teammates. Those guys, you love to have him in your organization and when they're elite players, like he is, it makes it even more important.”

It's all a part of the growth that’s led Kempe and the Kings to this point.

I shared this yesterday but imagine if the Kings had given up on Kempe earlier in his career. After his fifth season with NHL games, Kempe had a career high of 14 goals and 31 points. You often see players like that, first-round picks, given up on by the team that drafted them, only to thrive in a new situation. But the Kings stuck with Kempe and Kempe stuck with the process, moving to the wing and ultimately establishing himself as a first-line player in the NHL.

Pretty good example of the development process and more importantly, the need to understand what you have sometimes. The Kings got rewarded for their patience with Kempe’s process and Kempe is seeing the rewards of the work he’s put in to become the player he is today.

Now, he is established.

He’s battled through the process and come out the other side a star player in the NHL. And he’s done it all in Los Angeles.

Kempe became an All-Star in Los Angeles. He became a 40-goal scorer in Los Angeles. Played best-on-best international hockey as a King. But he’s also become a husband in Los Angeles. A father here. It’s here he wanted to stay and here where he wants to spend the remainder of his career.

“My family has been in LA the entire time, it’s our home and we want to keep building our family,” Kempe added. “It's very exciting for everybody, very thankful for everybody that's been around for these years and for the coming eight years.”