Kings forward Adrian Kempe dazzles in best-on-best international debut

Loved this quote shared by TSN’s Mark Masters, from an interview with Kings and Team Canada defenseman Drew Doughty, speaking about his Los Angeles teammate and 4 Nations opponent Adrian Kempe.

“You guys have no idea how good he is.”

Drew Doughty, yesterday, on Kings 'mate Adrian Kempe:

"He’s a competitor. He’s a great player. Like, honestly, you guys have no idea how good he is … It’s going to be a battle … We’re going to have fun with it" https://t.co/9K3bCPO5Sz

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 13, 2025

Looking at last night overall, similar to the quote, I didn’t know how good it would be. But that game exceeded expectations. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this tournament going in. Excited, I think, but not Olympics excited. Watching the pace early, though, I was hooked as a fan. This isn’t a 4 Nations blog, so I won’t be recapping games or focusing on teams. But as a fan of the game, that was exciting and enjoyable for me and I hope it was for you guys also . Not to mention, Kempe was among the best players on the ice. Surprising to some. But it shouldn’t be. Certainly wasn’t to Doughty.

We all know, here on LA Kings Insider. Dude is good. On the international stage, though, I’m not sure that Kempe has the recognition he’s probably earned. Wouldn’t be the first to note that players on the West Coast typically don’t get that level of recognition around the NHL, at least without team success. That’s sort of where Kempe has fallen into at times. Last night, with the entire hockey world watching, Kempe was one of his team’s most effective players in a 4-3 overtime defeat versus Canada, scoring a goal in the third period and playing the game we’ve become accustomed to seeing him play.

First things first, how about the goal.

Kempe’s offensive arsenal is expansive. He’s not a one size fits all type of scorer and he’s really worked on getting more of the greasy goals this season but his bread and butter is a shot that is capable of beating goaltenders clean from all over the offensive zone.

All in all, it’s a pretty simple play. Defenseman Erik Karlsson, one of the league’s best blueliners with regards to moving the puck, made a nice play in the neutral zone to find Kempe with his legs moving in the right direction. As one of the league’s best skaters in transition, Kempe used his speed to gain a half step through the neutral zone. Finding his way into the slot, Kempe found room between the pair of Canada defensemen, including Doughty, and the backchecking Anthony Cirelli, a regular in receiving Selke votes among the NHL’s top defensive forwards. With that perfect middle ground of room, Kempe picked his spot and scored cleanly past goaltender Jordan Binnington. For a guy who is continuing to find new ways to score goals, sometimes a goalscorer simply needs to use his shot to make things happen offensively. Exactly what Kempe did last night as he helped Team Sweden come back in the third period to force the game into overtime, eventually collecting a point in the table that could prove to be important.

1 game, 1 goal. Nice start.

Second, the metrics.

By the numbers, Team Sweden controlled 69.7 percent of shot attempts with Kempe on the ice at even strength, the best number among all players on Team Sweden. On the individual front, Kempe had nine shot attempts in all situations tied with Toronto’s William Nylander for the team lead, while his six shots on goal were the most among all Sweden skaters, no ties. Kempe also had a team-leading six scoring chances, with one of the six turning into his first goal of the tournament. Per Natural Stat Trick, Kempe ranked second on his side in individual expected goals during the opening game of the tournament. Via Sport Logiq, no player had more offensive-generating plays than Kempe’s 11 and it was he, not Nylander, who led the team in individual expected goals. Pretty dangerous debut.

ixG leaders from 🇨🇦/🇸🇪

🇸🇪 W. Nylander (0.56)
🇨🇦 B Point (0.38)
🇨🇦 N. MacKinnon (0.35)
🇸🇪 A. Kempe (0.35)
🇨🇦 B. Marchand (0.34)
🇨🇦 C. McDavid (0.27)
🇨🇦 S. Reinhart (0.25)

(per @NatStatTrick)

— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) February 13, 2025

In total, Kempe skated 15:33 in 5-on-5 situations, the fourth-highest total among Swedish forwards. Kempe was not a part of the Team Sweden power play but played 12 seconds on the penalty kill, the only Canada PP of the evening, which resulted in a very quick goal against. Based on practice reports from Montreal, Kempe was not expected to get PP time to start the tournament but he’s an extremely effective penalty killer for the Kings, so seeing him as a first option over the boards is not surprising.

Kempe was a part of the 3-on-3 rotation as well and nearly found the game-winning goal a shift or two before Mitch Marner’s eventual tally for Canada. On one of Sweden’s most effective shifts in overtime, Kempe drove the net and nearly converted a pass from defenseman Gustav Forsling but he ran out of real estate in front of Binnington. On that shift, Kempe also had a controlled zone entry, generating a good look early on a play we’ve seen him do a number of times with the Kings, winding up and using his speed down the right wing. He also had two loose-puck recoveries in the offensive zone to help keep the play alive on a very good shift for the Swedes.

Lastly, Kempe brought his trademark brand of physicality. No Team Sweden player had more hits than Kempe’s four. Sometimes, a high total in the hits department could be a bad thing, because it means you don’t have a ton of the puck. As the numbers above show, that was not the case for Kempe, who was on the ice for twice as many shot attempts for as against. It was extremely unfortunate, though, that Kempe’s hit on Shea Theodore caused the Vegas blueliner to miss the rest of the game and ultimately be ruled out for the tournament. Nothing malicious about a player finishing his check, but not the outcome you want to see in a midseason tournament. Wishing the best for Theodore, who is an outstanding player, and hope his week-to-week timeline is closer to week and not weeks.

All in all, a really positive debut at this level for Kempe. He and his teammates will rest today before returning to action in a rivalry game versus Team Finland on Saturday in Montreal. Big game for sure, likely a must-win for the Swedes to keep hopes alive for a spot in the championship game. With one point, Sweden likely can’t afford a second defeat. With a win Saturday, it would set up a pivotal final game of the tournament next week in Boston against the United States. Much more to come on Kempe as he continues his first best-on-best international showcase event!