The Los Angeles Kings had a disappointing season in 2025-26. After struggling most of the season, the Kings fired Jim Hiller as the head coach. D.J. Smith took over on an interim basis and led the Kings back to the playoffs for the fifth straight year. The Kings would fall in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a fifth straight season, this time being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.
Now, the Kings have a new head coach, according to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman.
The Kings have named Peter Laviolette as the next head coach of the team. The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs were also interested in Laviolette for the job. The coach was highly sought after due to his prior track record. His 846 career wins rank seventh all-time. This will be the seventh stop in his coaching career.
After a successful career as an AHL coach, Laviolette got his first head coaching job with the New York Islanders for the 2001-02 season. After making the playoffs two straight years, but losing in the first round each year, he was fired by the Islanders following the 2002-03 season. During the following season, the Carolina Hurricanes fired Paul Maurice during the 2003-04 season, and Laviolette would take over.
After failing to make the playoffs in his first season, the coach would lead Carolina to a Stanley Cup victory in 2005-06. From there, it did not go well. They missed the playoffs two straight years, and he was fired mid-way through the 2008-09 season. This would lead the Stanley Cup-winning coach to get his next opprotunity in the 2009-10 season, when John Stevens was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers, and Laviolette came to the rescue.
In his first season with the Flyers, he led them to a comeback after being down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals over the Boston Bruins, reaching the Stanley Cup Final but falling to the Chicago Blackhawks. The next two seasons would see early playoff exits, and then a missed playoffs in 2012-13, before being fired after an 0-3 start in 2013-14.
Laviolette would return to the Stanley Cup Final in his next stop. He started with the Nashville Predators in 2014-15, and led them to the Cup Final in 2017, but lost to Pittsburgh. While he led the Preds to five straight playoff berths, he was fired midway through the 2019-20 season. Laviolette then spent three years with the Capitals and two more years with the New York Rangers, making the playoffs three of the five seasons.
This past season was the first time since before becoming the Islanders coach that Laviolette did not coach in an NHL game. Now, with a year of rest under his belt, he looks to bring the Kings back to their former glory and hopefully lift the Cup one more time.
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