It is without a doubt that Anze Kopitar will go down as Slovenia's greatest-ever athlete, and arguably the LA Kings' best player, but it is the impact and what he has left on the ice that will truly etch his career into NHL history. A two-time winner of the Stanley Cup, a two-time Selke winner, and an all-around model captain for the best part of a decade in LA, Anze Kopitar is what every up and coming two-way forward should strive to be. He is a true pioneer of the game, and a legend of modern day hockey.
While never being a 100-point scorer in his career, his role as the workhorse, and blue collar captain that every team wants was enough for him to become one of the all-time greats. Being in the conversation with some of the best two-way players in history like Sidney Crosby and Aleksander Barkov is enough, but as your perfect example of how to be that reliable and classy center, Kopitar is all you need.
As a creative player on one end of the ice, with silky clean hands and an eye for goal, and a defensively competent piece on the other end, his commitment to help the team in all three zones is why he will be remembered as one of the best captains in the NHL, and why he has set the example for aspiring NHL captains.
Winning the Lady Byng trophy three times, and the Frank J Selke trophy twice, his leadership, skill across every element of the game, and sportsmanship alone shows how much he has left on the ice over his 1,454 NHL games. As the second-highest point scorer in Kings franchise history with 1,278 and counting, first in games played with 1,454, and first in all-time franchise assists, nobody has represented the LA Kings better since. Leading the team to two Stanley Cups before being made captain in 2016, and making his two-way game recognised as one of the best in the game, everything Kopitar brought to the game was what the Kings needed, and everything he brought to the game was perfectly played hockey.
Becoming a key faceoff guy, a leader, a teammate, and an inspiration off the ice, his on ice performances showed why he is one of the more underrated players in NHL history, and aside from the accolades, what he will be remembered by will be what he worked for. In his prime, no captain played the game with more on ice sense than him, his IQ paired with elite knowledge across all three zones is why Kopitar is the example, and why his name will have such a massive impact on how kids play the game in the future.
He may not be the flashy playmaker that every kid dreams of being, but with how he played the game, and how professional and successful he has been throughout his career, every kid should take his game as the perfect model example. A player who played the game the right way, and a player who will inspire a new generation of work hungry two-way forwards.