The long negotiation is over. Anze Kopitar has finalized an eight-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings.
The deal is worth $80 million, an NHL source confirmed with ESPN.com on Saturday, and includes a $9 million bonus to be paid July 1 and another $9 million bonus on July 1, 2017. There is a full no-movement clause in the first four years of the contract, a source said, and a modified no-trade clause after that.
"He's worth every penny of it," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "A guy that's good enough to do that, you win championships with players like that. ... A guy like Kopitar, his best years are in front of him. Guys get rewarded for winning Stanley Cups, and when they're with one franchise for that period of time, when you've won Cups, then everybody is looking forward to the next part with them."
The contract, linking Kopitar to the Kings through 2023-24, wraps up a negotiation that both sides had hoped would get done in the summer and eliminates one of the most high-profile potential unrestricted free agents from the upcoming free-agent class.
"I've expressed throughout the process that I'd like to stay here," Kopitar said after contributing an assist in the Kings' 5-3 loss to Ottawa on Saturday. "When it's finalized, it's obviously some sort of relief and a very nice feeling."
The deal puts Kopitar in line financially with Chicago Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, who signed matching eight-year contracts worth $10.5 million per season in 2014.
Kopitar, like Toews, is a franchise center who was the engine behind multiple Stanley Cups for his team. In 70 career playoff games, the 28-year-old Slovenia native has 60 points. He has one of the most well-rounded defensive games in the league, finishing third in the Selke Trophy race last season.
"I've been a part of this organization when we went through pretty big struggles and not very fun years," Kopitar said. "We turned that around, and obviously the last few years have been pretty exciting for everybody. Knowing that we have a winning team here, that's what makes you want to stay here an extended period of time."
The deal is not without risk, kicking in next season during a time in which the NHL salary cap is stagnating in large part because of a dropping Canadian dollar. The Kings also have a lot of salary on the books, with long-term deals locked in with aging veterans Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter and Marian Gaborik.
In 725 career games, the No. 11 overall pick in 2005 has 645 career points.
ESPN.com senior writer Pierre LeBrun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.