Alright, I'll give you a couple of guesses as to where Anze Kopitar slots in this year as an even strength point producer with the Kings.
Top 3? Nah.
Top 5? Wrong again.
Sixth. Sixth in points per 60 at 5v5. The Kings franchise center, scoring at a pace of 1.69 points per 60 minutes at evens. Does that seem right? For $6.8 million dollars?
Well, that's only telling one side of the story. If you want to factor in the time Kopitar is given with the extra man, things look a little better. He is among four Kings on the team breaking the 2.00 barrier in points per 60 minutes.
A lot of people want to criticize Kopitar for what he is and how he plays in the offensive zone. In reality, Kopitar is still a tremendous and somewhat glorified two-way center with a penchant for passing over shooting.
How many times have you screamed at the television screen "SHOOT! SHOOOOOT!" When Kopitar has the puck on the halfwall? Plenty have.
He can be downright frustrating to watch in that regard. At 5-on-5 Kopitar is one of the worst personal shot generators on the team. He is 12th amongst the 14 eligible Kings forwards in personally shooting the puck.
But in some regards you have a right to be frustrated with Kopitar this year. A lot of his underlying numbers in terms of offensive production are at all-time lows this year. Shots, points, goals, shooting percentage, fenwick, corsi...
You name it, he is pretty much down this year.
On the flip side, he is still one of, if not the best defensive forward in the NHL. This year is no different.
It can be easy to wonder what exactly is wrong with Kopitar when he isn't scoring, because it doesn't seem like he is doing much else. In reality, this is a lot like the law of shutdown defensemen. If you don't hear their names, that means they are doing a pretty good job. Even if Kopitar is not lighting the lamp with regularity at even strength, keeping the puck out of the back of the net is just as important. All of those numbers look as good as they have ever been. Even the eye test will suit you here. How often do you see Kopitar blow a coverage or get beat on a goal? How about his line? Yea they have bad nights here and there, but it isn't very often that you flat out see the Kopitar line beat during the course of the game.
All of Kopitar's zone starts are just about normal and he gets some of the most difficult minutes that Sutter has to offer over the course of a game. Penalty kill, defensive zone draw, 1st on 1st match-ups, he gets a little bit of everything.
As for his offensive game, yea, it is a disappointing year overall.
But again, Kopitar is more of a pass first player as is. I know everyone wants him to be a 30-goal scorer, and he shows flashes of it from time to time. However, Kopitar is more akin to Ryan Getzlaf. He uses his size and skill to facilitate, will rarely break over 25 goals in a season, but normally racks up assists. Difference between Kopitar and Getzlaf is that Kopitar doesn't have a 40-goal scorer at his disposal with Corey Perry.
The nice thing for Kopitar this year is he has had a steady partnership with Marian Gaborik. Last year there was a carousel of top-line options for the Kings until they moved in 12 for good. While the third man in has been rotating (and I think I've made my feelings on Brown being paired with them perfectly clear), the established duo of Gaborik/Kopitar is more important than a whole line. That being said, it is easy to want more at even strength from them.
Kopitar is a curious player to follow. He isn't flashy, he doesn't blow you away in the offensive zone most nights. But the guy can flat shut players down. Although his scoring touch is off this season for a multitude of reasons (Bad luck, lesser players on outlet, etc.), his overall play is still an incredibly effective piece night in and night out. With Kopitar you essentially have eliminated some of the best players on the opposing team on a nightly basis.
Would we all like him to score more? Yeah, absolutely. And for the money he gets paid and is going to get paid at his extension time, it is not unfair to ask for a better year offensively than the one he is currently having.
With that in mind he is still this LA Kings team in a microcosm.
All the skill in the world. They can possess the puck and grind you down into dust. Defensively he is immaculate. He has size, he is strong, he can do a little bit of everything. But offensively? Well, take what you can get. But man oh man, all that other stuff!
If you are frustrated by 11 this year that is a pretty fair thing to think. But don't for one second think that he isn't doing anything.
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