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Inside the Standoff: Why Are the Los Angeles Kings and Adrian Kempe Still at a Standstill?

Inside the Standoff: Why Are the Los Angeles Kings and Adrian Kempe Still at a Standstill?

It’s downright puzzling, isn’t it? Here we are, deep into the season’s chatter, and Adrian Kempe remains unsigned, hanging in the balance while the Los Angeles Kings shuffle their decks. This isn’t just any player—they’re talking about a guy who’s morphed from a modest goal-scorer into a potential cornerstone, someone the Kings desperately need to lock down before he slips away. The whispers on The FAN Hockey Show hit hard: the market’s moved, the price tag’s climbing, and yet negotiations stall. We’ve seen key players walk out the door recently, and losing Kempe would feel like déjà vu, a misstep no contender can afford. So why the holdup? Is it a simple dollar-and-cents squabble, or something deeper lurking beneath the surface? One thing’s crystal clear—time’s ticking, and the Kings better act quick if they want ‘juice’ to stay flowing in LA’s veins. LEARN MORE

Why haven’t the Los Angeles Kings extended Adrian Kempe by now? They have to get it done

Sportsnet: Dennis Bernstein on The FAN Hockey Show with Mike Futa and Matt Marchese talking about Adrian Kempe and why he hasn’t signed a contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings yet.

Futa: “How important it is, and how close are they to get Kempe done, Dennis?”

Bernstein: “They’re not close. Now, here’s the thing. The market shifted on the King. They could have had it for $10 million over the summer, and they offered less than nine.

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And then, you know, guys like Luke Hughes and Jackson got nine. So, of course, and Kyle Connor, Connor’s a different story. (Kirill) Kaprizov’s a different story. It’s probably gonna cost, probably gonna cost them 11 and a half million, and they’re not there yet.

But here’s the thing, Mike, they have to bring this guy back. Two years ago, they lost Matt Roy. Last year, lost (Vladislav) Gavrikov. You can’t have guys keep walking out, especially this player. This player could be the captain, the next captain of the Kings. He wants to stay. I talked to him in Vegas when we did the media tour with him. He would sign for eight years. The player wants to stay. Holland has to pay him. It’s as simple as that. That’s where the market is right now. Market shifted on him. It’s unfortunate for them that he wanted to hold the line, but right now they got to pay him.”

Futa: “I think that’s, we said that there’s certain teams, LA being one of them, this guy is homegrown talent, and he evolved into something. The one thing we were concerned about when we drafted him was his natural ability to score goals.”

Marchese: “I think he figured that out.”

Futa: “No, but he never was a big offensive producer.”

Bernstein: “Right, he wasn’t.”

Futa: “Every goal he scored was like, you’re like, how you shoot the puck like that, and be a 10 or 15 goal scorer? Now, he’s got the confidence. He’s got the 200-foot game. He loves it there. He’s like, they call him ‘juice’ for a reason. The guy’s all LA. And, I mean, with (Anze Kopitar) moving on, this is the guy that basically has got to slot him with (Quinten) Byfield for, to be the future of this, like the core of this group.

I, I cannot believe that he’s not, you just don’t look at what happened with Connor and say, Well, if he’s a little less than Conor, then you’re right. You slot right in at 11, 11.5 and get it done. So you don’t have any of these things weighing on the kids throughout the season.”

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Marchese: “The thing that I don’t understand about how that, like this deal to me, should be, this should be an easy one for LA to do. They don’t really have any guys coming up that you’re like, well, we got to brace ourselves for this big extension.”

Bernstein: “Yeah. Yeah.”

Marchese: “And that’s the part that confuses me the most, is that I look at the player and I say, ‘perfect fit.’  And offensive, offensively gifted, and he’s responsible in his own end. Like, these are the types of guys that A) you want to keep around, but you’re happy to pay to keep around. Like, why do they not want to get over that $10 million mark, Dennis? Like, that’s the part that I don’t understand.”

Bernstein: “I don’t know. I don’t know, and I’m sure it’s unsettling for the player. And I talked to him about when you’re going to sign, he goes, ‘Look, I get that straight deadline and I’m not signed. That’s a big problem.’ Like he says at Christmas, maybe Thanksgiving.

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But here’s the thing, Matt, there’s no replacement player. Look at their look at their prospect pool. There’s no player coming like that. They draft, you know, they get drafted guys, and it’s worked by guys like Alex Laferrier, right? That’s, that’s the type of, that’s the model they drafted. They don’t have a 35-goal replacement for this team.

So I don’t know why it’s taking so long, but, you know, sometimes one phone call makes a difference.Bbut they have to get it done. I would be stunned if he’s not an LA King, because that’s a, that’s a major misstep, because he wants to play. He deserves that. He’s performed. He’s dangerous. You know, the last thing the Edmonton Oilers to want to see in the playoffs again, even though they won four straight, is Adrian Kempe. He’s a killer in the playoffs. It’s, it’s stunning, given what’s going on in the market with other comparable players right now.”

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