2025 Exit Interviews – Kopitar, Doughty, Danault, Fiala, Kempe, Moore

Diving today into the players who spoke during Monday’s Kings exit interviews.

Starting with the leaders, here are six veteran players who spoke. All six players have played in at least three of the four series against the Oilers over the past four seasons, all with varying roles and responsibilities in those series. Each expressed their thoughts following what was a successful regular season and a postseason performance as a team that came up short of expectations.

*Of note, the videos this season were posted in one YouTube video as opposed to 18 separate ones. The embedded videos below are the same link, timestamped to go directly to the players mentioned when you click play.

Anze Kopitar & Drew Doughty

Not Getting The Ultimate Job Done
Anze Kopitar was asked last season about the team’s culture carrying over from the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup teams until now. He said that culture and style of hockey was not there anymore and it needed to be rebuilt.

Over 82 games, the Kings worked hard to rebuild some of what they had. In the playoffs, it fell short. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t progress, in Kopitar’s eyes. But how does he measure a regular season’s worth of success against the same result in the postseason?

“I think we definitely made progress,” Kopitar said. “I guess the record itself showed itself, regular season, but at the end of the day, that’s not what you’re playing for. You’re playing, obviously, to win a championship and we failed to do so, so it’s disappointing. We felt like this year would be different, and we got off to a good start but we couldn’t close. That’s on us to figure out how to do it.”

Doughty echoed those thoughts.

Both players, late in their respective careers, have a pretty singular goal – winning. The Kings did not win this year and that brings both players a year closer towards the end of their respective runs. That one hurts for two guys who felt that this was a year they could truly take the next step towards winning again.

“Losing is just painful,” Doughty said. “I mean, obviously it sucks that it was Edmonton all four times too, but no matter who we’re playing, like Kopi said, our ultimate goal is to win a championship and we had a great opportunity this year to get the job done and we didn’t. Yeah, no matter what, it’s frustrating. We play every year to win and that’s the bottom line.”

For Kopitar, he has one year left on his current contract and has admitted it could be his final season upcoming, though not fully known at this stage. For Doughty, he has two seasons remaining on his current contract and will be 36 when playoffs come around next spring. Both guys know the clock is ticking on adding a third championship to the two they won all those years ago. It’s their primary motivating factor to continue playing and the disappointment of falling short, in this way, was evident.

So What Went Wrong?
I thought this was a pretty headline-esque quote from Doughty on what happened in Games 3 and 4.

“The coaches weren’t telling us to just like back off and sit back, there was no talk about doing that. That is just human nature to sit back. Me and Kopi, we’re telling the group, don’t sit back, let’s keep going, let’s be on our toes, let’s keep working for offense. I don’t know why it doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t sometimes. I mean [Winnipeg/St. Louis], the same type of thing happened, you know. So that was never something that we talked about, just sitting back, it just kind of naturally happened. Even though we did sit back, we still should have got the job done. 6-on-5 has got to be better and really, that’s it. We had to get that job done and that’s on the players. I wouldn’t blame the coaches for that.”

Doughty is typically one to call it like he sees it. Not a ton of BS. You might disagree with his assessment but rarely does he sugarcoat it in ways that don’t reflect what he is feeling. So if he’s saying that, he believes it.

He makes three key points. One, the team DID sit back in Games 3 and 4 but it was not strategic. Two, he took it upon himself and the team to have done things differently. Three, the Kings should have won despite it.

Take it for what you will, but that’s coming from an honest man.

The more measured of the two, Kopitar, said that he felt the group put Games 3 and 4 behind them to play Games 5 and 6. Game 5, obviously, was well below their standard but Game 6 had enough to win the game, though it ultimately didn’t happen. As the team’s leader, though, Kopitar felt that the Kings were able to mentally reset between the games in Edmonton and the return to Los Angeles.

“Yeah, we did, of course,” he said. “You’ve got to put it behind you. That’s what a playoff series is all about. We talked about having the highs and the lows. The first two games we were up but we kept it even keeled too. When you lose a couple games in a row, you got to keep it even-keeled too. Does it affect you? Of course it does affect you. We’re human and everybody gets affected by it but I thought for the most part, it was pretty even and just going about the business.”

Not Quite 100 Percent
Goes without saying that Doughty was playing at less than 100 percent in the playoffs, as he confirmed on Monday.

“I was obviously not 100 percent,” he said. “I felt like I could still play well and I thought I did at times, I could’ve played better. This summer will be very important, especially early in the summer, to get back my range and all of these things with my ankle, and then have a good offseason of training.”

Doughty’s series was up and down. He was on the ice for the second most 5-on-5 goals for of any Kings player but also tied for the most against. Doughty’s primary matchup was against the McDavid/Draisaitl duo and with that comes a massive challenge, especially for a player who was not 100 percent. He certainly didn’t have his minutes reduced, either, coming in at 27:12 on average over the six games, with only one game below 26 minutes.

Probably begs the question of why the minutes weren’t spread out more than they were, but that’s not a question for Doughty. He gave it what he had.

For those wondering if Doughty being used close to his normal usage early, and coming back in time to play in the 4 Nations Faceoff had an impact, he actually felt that playing such a large role right away for the Kings, and then going to play at a higher level, got his level up higher than it would have otherwise.

“When you take that long off, no matter what, you’re not going to get to the level of play you want to be at,” Doughty said. “I struggled in the beginning, when I first came back, especially mentally, not knowing that I was where I wanted to be. I think in a way, it was good they kind of threw me into the fire like that, because I got back to where I wanted to be a little quicker than I think, a little quicker than I think I would have if I only played 15 minutes.”

Now comes a summer of getting healthy and then building towards what he hopes will be a full 82 games come 2025-26.

Phillip Danault & Kevin Fiala

Kevin Coming Into His Own
So much has been made of Kevin Fiala’s growth in the second half of the season.

From February 1 on, Fiala scored 19 goals in 33 games as he led the team in goals and was tied for the team lead in points. This came after a difficult start to the season for Fiala, who did not meet his own expectations over the first few months of play, outside of a few good spurts. Both Fiala and Jim Hiller spoke of an understanding they came to, via several conversations and meetings to get on the same page. Once they did, Fiala exploded, as he played his best hockey as a King from February – April and that included the best playoff performance of his NHL career.

What was the secret?

“I’m 28 years old, so I’m not very young anymore and enough is enough in a few ways,” he said. “I have so much expectations for me and it has to be the whole package, you know. I think it changed a lot in the last 20 games or so, not only on the ice but off the ice as well. Just being more professional, being more as a leader and then on the ice, playing a 200-foot game. It’s tough to play it, but looking back, I’m very proud that I did it, also it made me a better player. It’s the most important thing for the team. I helped the team more, more to win games. I made that switch and I’m going to continue to stay like I was the last 20 games now.”

Spoken like a player who has matured as he continues through what should be the prime of his career. Fiala had 35 goals in total, the most he’s scored in a single season but he’s made the biggest impact in all areas of the ice while doing so. That’s a massive step forward, as he points out. Fiala was also over a point-per-game in the playoffs, with seven points from six games played, as he collected at least one point in every game but Game 5. A strong finish to the season and a player who changed some of the narrative surrounding him come the playoffs as well.

Danault Down The Stretch
Like Fiala, Danault had an outstanding postseason, his best in a Kings jersey.

Danault collected a total of eight points (2-6-8) in six playoff games, his highest in any postseason of his NHL career, which includes his run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, when he played 22 games. Danault was effective and impactful all over the ice, perhaps the best Kings player overall during the six games. It continued a strong finish to the season, in which he really elevated his play during the closing months of the season, following an extended start that was slower than usual.

Danault spoke about a number of things, including conversations with the coaching staff, that helped him to solidify his line and his role with the club. It took awhile to get there but once it did, his personal game returned to the level it’s been for much of his time with the Kings.

“My personal game, I think my line changed. Me and Kevin were together for a while, we were kind of in the doghouse for a little bit and we just fought our way back. We worked on our mental part, off the ice, on the ice, we’re hungry, we’re dedicated, we care so and we’re team first, which is most important. We just accepted our role and we just start playing better. We tried everything to make a difference in playoffs, to get our games going for the boys and the team. I’m pushing, last 20 games I would say, my linemates and myself had a better role, like I knew what I was doing more, had some talks with the coach as well. It was hard at the start, but finished strong, personally.”

Danault’s goalscoring numbers for the season won’t look very good. He averaged 21 goals per season over his first three with the Kings but dropped to eight in 2024-25, plus two more in the playoffs. That’s not enough from a top-nine forward, especially one who plays close to 18 minutes per game on average. We saw Danault’s impact in the playoffs, though, and really throughout the last few months of the season, once his line and his role fell into place. Important for him to take that momentum into the summer and come out strong in the fall with that same level.

Sometimes, even something that has worked in the past needs to change to blossom. That turned out to be the case for both Fiala and Danault, with both performing better when separated late in the season.

Postseason Falls Short
For two guys who contributed individually, what were their thoughts on the team’s failure to get the job done?

As Danault said yesterday, he had more confidence in this year’s team than any of the other three he was a part of.

“This one was definitely the one I felt the most comfortable in and the group that could go the furthest, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s very unfortunate, what happened. Definitely the group I was believing in the most, for sure.”

Fiala was asked about the team’s third periods in Games 3 and 4. He had a great look in Game 4 that beat Edmonton goaltender Calvin Pickard but hit the inside of the post and deflected out. As tough a break as the Kings got in that game.

They weren’t able to get the job done in Game 4, as they didn’t two days prior in Game 3. Fiala was asked about the team sitting back and how he felt that factored into not holding onto those leads. He acknowledged it and pointed to the Blues/Jets ending on Sunday, where Winnipeg tied the game in the final seconds to force overtime, eventually winning the series in seven games. Ultimately, the Kings didn’t get the job done and that falls a number of ways.

“It’s so easy to say, to watch and say whatever, we tried our best and I mean, we had them, especially those two games, one of those games we should have won,” Fiala said. “You can see yesterday, St Louis, they lost in an even worse way than we did, it’s not easy. Everybody is sitting back when they’re leading, because you don’t need to chase, you don’t need to go, or whatever. The bottom line is we had to make it up, get the job done and we didn’t. We were leading and we were not just leading, but in my opinion, we were playing way better than them, they didn’t have any life. We have to have key moments just to close it out and we didn’t.”

Hard to reflect, I think, even now. As tough as I think both players have taken it over their time with the Kings, considering the team here and the way that both played during the series.

Adrian Kempe & Trevor Moore

Here We Are Again
Kempe and Moore have each now played in all four of the Kings/Oilers matchups to date.

You can certainly see the frustration that both players have, especially after both were among the team’s top performers in this year’s defeat.

“I think we’re doing the right things, but we sit here after the last four seasons and say the same things,” Kempe said. “It really felt like we had something going on this year. It felt like we were good enough to get past the first one and get past more rounds, not just the first round, because that’s the goal, to get all the way and not just get past the first round.”

He’s right. It felt like the Kings did a lot of things right this season but here we are, talking about the same things after another defeat in Round 1 against the same team in Edmonton. You could feel the frustration in his voice in giving that answer, especially as it came within him talking about how he wants to be with the Kings for the long haul, as he is eligible to sign an extension beginning on July 1. He wants to be a part of the difference going forward, even as he sits in frustration, talking about another season that ended in Round 1.

Shared Moore’s thoughts on Monday, but he felt that this was the best group the Kings have had in those four years. Certainly their best opportunity to date to defeat Edmonton in a series. And yet they fell short.

“It felt like we had our best group this year,” he said. “It felt like what we had, we controlled the pace of play, I thought, for the first four games. It just sucks. We just didn’t get it done and that’s that.”

I think for those two, guys who make up that group of players here around the same age, entering or within the primes of their careers, they want to get over that hump as badly as anyone. They also want to be a part of the solution in getting there, which is perhaps equally important as Kempe in particular has the opportunity to decide his own future, beginning in less than two months’ time.

Juice Is Worth The Squeeze
Kempe led the Kings in scoring for the second straight season, as he collected a team-high 73 points, his second straight season with more than 70.

Kempe is in the prime of his career. It took him a bit longer to get there than many others do, but his age-25 to age-28 seasons have seen him blossom as a player. He also led the Kings in playoff scoring for the fourth time in four years. That’s right. In all four series, Kempe has actually elevated his game come the playoffs to pace the team in points. His 10 from six games in 2025 are the most he’s collected in a single series throughout his career.

So where does he go from here? He’s a damn effective player as it is, but he actually believes that he has even more to come as he continues to grow and develop.

“It’s hard to say. I feel like I’m still like, body wise and mental-wise, I think there’s still a couple more percent I think I can add to my game. Age-wise, I think yeah, this is probably going to be the next, I want to say, maybe two, three years, where you can’t really get that peak performance out of yourself. What can I add more? I think just obviously trying to be as consistent as possible during the regular season. It’s something that I try to work on and then small details you work on the summer. You go back, reflect on the season and reflect on goalscoring, whatever it is, where can score more goals, where I haven’t really done that yet. We’ll see what I have to work on in the summer. Skill wise, I think there’s always things you can work on.”

Says something that he puts that much thought into where he’s at and where he can continue to improve. Even for Kempe, there is room to get even better and it’s clear he’s focused on and committed to doing that heading into another earlier than desired summer for himself and the Kings.

Moore Production From Trevor
You can break Trevor Moore’s season down into three quadrants, by points collected.

Quadrant 1 – 18 Points From 28 Games
Quadrant 2 – 2 Points From 12 Games
Quadrant 3 – 24 Points From 37 Games

Over the first 28 games of the season, from Opening Night through suffering an injury in New Jersey in mid-December, Moore averaged .64 points per game. Upon returning from injury, Moore wasn’t quite himself off the bat, as he collected just two assists from 12 games back, as he struggled to reach his usual standard, during a time in the season when the Kings as a team struggled to produce offense. From February 1 through Game 6, Moore’s production returned almost identically, at .65 through the end of the season.

Moore credited a clean bill of health for his close to the season, which brought him back to over a 50-point pace over 82 games.

“Down the stretch, I finally started feeling healthy and that helps for sure,” Moore said. Then, I think just having an identity as a line is good, just knowing that we were going to be a line that can forecheck and play hard against other team’s top lines. We’re all on the same page. It creates offense and Phil played really well.”

As he noted, the performance of his usual centerman – Phillip Danault – kind of went hand-in-hand with what Moore said. The two of them typically go together. Danault improved his production as well down the stretch, as he and Moore formed the core of a line capable of facing off with the other team’s top players, while holding their own production wise. That carried into the postseason as those two, along with Warren Foegele, performed well against Edmonton, overall.

For more storylines on these six players, including Kopitar on his future beyond 2026, Kempe’s thoughts on potentially signing an extension as soon as July 1, Doughty on a summer of rehab work and more, see the Key Takeaways article posted on Monday HERE.