For the majority of NHL fans, Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar remains a mystery. 

Whether it's due to the coverage of eastern-based stars like Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the Kings woeful performances in recent seasons or a combination of both, most hockey fans have little idea who Kopitar is. 

So it's come as a surprise for those fans to see his name perched atop the NHL scoring race and goal-scoring leaders and second in assists nearly a month into this season. 

The first-ever Slovenian player in the NHL, Kopitar was selected 11th over by the Kings in the 2005 entry draft and made his debut with the Kings in 2006-07. He had a strong rookie season with 20 goals and 61 points but was overshadowed by Malkin, who won the Calder trophy as NHL rookie of the year. 

Kopitar didn't suffer a sophomore slump in 2007-08, finishing with 32 goals and 77 points and attracting some attention as a potential franchise player for the rebuilding Kings. 

His point production dipped last season, with 27 goals and 66 points but that appeared attributable to the emphasis placed on improving the Kings overall defensive game by head coach Terry Murray, who took over the job in the summer of 2008. 

Still, with peers like Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby dominating the league Kopitar's development appeared slow by comparison. Yes, he's good, went the consensus, but he's not in the same league as the league's other top young stars. 

This season however could be Kopitar's long-awaited coming-out party. With 21 points in only 12 games he's currently out-pacing Ovechkin, Malkin and Crosby as well as experienced stars like Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash. 

Over those twelve games Kopitar was held off the scoresheet only once, in a 4-2 loss to the NY Rangers. 

And it's not as though he's been racking up those points against weak opposition. He had a three-point night against the San Jose Sharks, another 3-point performance against the surprising Phoenix Coyotes and a two-point performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Granted, he's yet to face the majority of the league thus far this season and it remains to be seen if he can continue his torrid offensive production over the course of a long NHL season. 

But the Kings are a better team than in recent seasons, having brought in some veteran leadership and skill in Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi in the off-season, and have several budding young stars in Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Jon Quick.

Leading the charge is the 22-year-old Kopitar, who's been the main factor in the Kings strong start to this season.

If he can continue to play at a high level throughout the season as he has in October, more hockey fans are going to know the name of Anze Kopitar.  

The Los Angeles Kings today kept a quality young defenseman in the fold, re-signing restricted free agent Jack Johnson to a two-year contract. 

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Johnson's new contract will be worth $1.425 million per season against the Kings salary cap, which is considerably lower than the $2 million-plus per season he was rumored seeking in internet speculation. 

The 22-year-old Johnson is considered a key part of the rebuilding Kings, but the strong rookie performance last season of Drew Doughty combined with GM Dean Lombardi's habit of dealing away players with he's had difficult contract negotiations (Mike Cammalleri, Patrick O'Sullivan) led to considerable internet trade speculation since the spring.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Johnson but it appears the club wants to retain him for at least the next two years and allow him to further his development on their roster. 

TSN reports the Los Angeles Kings have trade team captain Mattias Norstrom to the Dallas Stars.

I'm still awaiting full details of the return on this. My apologies for not updating this earlier but the Ryan Smyth trade hit just after this broke.

This is a significant move by the Stars to add more defensive depth and leadership to their blueline corps. Norstrom is respected as one of the league's better defensive blueliners who plays a clean physical game.

Players like Nostrom are coveted by playoff bound clubs so give full marks to Stars GM Doug Armstrong for pulling this off.

As for the Kings, the rebuilding continues under GM Dean Lombardi, who clears over $4 million in cap space for next season by moving Norstrom.

**UPDATE** The Dallas Morning News reports the following: " Johan Fransson, Jaroslav Modry and
a first, second and third to LA for a Norstrom, a key propect and a third and fourth."