Kings lock up center Anze Kopitar with 8-year, $80M contract

LOS ANGELES (AP) Center Anze Kopitar has agreed to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings.

Kopitar's agent on Saturday confirmed the terms of the contract, which makes the 28-year-old Slovenian star one of the NHL's highest-paid players.

Kopitar was scheduled to be a free agent this summer, but the deal conceivably keeps the two-time Stanley Cup champion with his only NHL franchise through his 18th season.

He has been Los Angeles' leading scorer in each of the previous eight seasons, emerging as a two-way NHL standout with remarkable playmaking and scoring skills. He has 230 goals and 415 assists in 725 games with the Kings, who drafted him with the 11th overall pick in 2005.