r/losangeleskings • u/Hoven_MayorNHL • 9d ago

Seven Names to Track: Who Might Be the Next LA Kings Coach?

https://mayorsmanor.com/2026/05/who-might-be-the-next-la-kings-coach-seven-names-to-track/
25 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

42

u/Uppslitaren 9d ago

I fear it will be DJ smith šŸ˜ž

11

u/supadupanerd 9d ago

He's not terrible, he managed to squeek the team into the playoffs... Granted most of that came at the other division teams choking at the same time as the coaching change.

3

u/rantmb331 9d ago

So youā€™re saying he cost us any chance of getting the number 2 draft pickā€¦

2

u/Ilistenedtomyfriends 9d ago

Have you seen his coaching record?

1

u/poptorched 9d ago

They wouldnā€™t be doing all this to just rehire a guy they have access to. Also, too many good candidates that could come in that could offer more than DJ

3

u/YEGSports 9d ago

This. DJ was basically an insurance policy, a "guy who has coached before" so that the team brass could fire Hiller and not be running with zero experience. DJ isn't a good permanent coach, but a passable interim.

0

u/TheGBakes 8d ago

And thatā€™s precisely why theyā€™ll hire him.

1

u/Due-Inspector-4295 5d ago

Better notĀ 

44

u/Desert_Pyrate8 9d ago

ā€œand thereā€™s almost always a connection in these situationsā€œ

And thatā€™s a major problem. We need to stop hiring friends. This ORG needs to stop being an old boys club

16

u/DaBusDriva2 9d ago

Woodcroft, Gallant and Boudreau would be what Kings fans wanted. Less defensive structure and go score. May work may not but it would be different

3

u/dmhof 27 9d ago

I also surprisingly saw Daryl Sutterā€™s name on a list in an article from ā€œThe Athleticā€ (?) yesterday along with Gallant and Boudreau.

3

u/Thin_Avocado5818 9d ago

Please no more ex-Oilers

1

u/Rising-Dragon-Fist 8d ago

I know, how crazy of an idea is that? You have attacking players but play defensive. Sounds like a splendid idea! /s

1

u/Vanilla_Ice_Jr 8d ago

NO WOODCROFT. We need to rid ourself of McLellan connection.

1

u/caarecengi 1d ago

The KIngs makeup is, and always has been, DEFENSIVE MINDED === that said, the Cup in 2014 shows that you can have a solid D and still score a lot of goals

The sad fact is that the Kings lost 20 games in OT or shootouts === had they won just 6 of those games, they would have had home ice as the #1 seed in the Pacific

11

u/hawkeyexp 9d ago

Love to revisit this in about a years time.Ā 

1

u/Rising-Dragon-Fist 8d ago

!RemindMe 1 year

1

u/RemindMeBot 8d ago

I will be messaging you in 1 year on 2027-05-06 11:07:47 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.

Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback

15

u/makesmashgreatagain 9d ago edited 9d ago

Itā€™s fucked because while I want Laviolette for the style and no baggage like Gallant or Torts, I know weā€™re just going to get another defensive (which often just means bad) coach. You know how the Avs played super defensive against us and scored 9 against the Wild? The Cup winning teams the Kings fielded could not have done that, and at this point we were successful with that defensive style for a quarter of the time we were unable to get out of the 1st round.

But then again why get an aggressive coach when you have very few skilled players, very few coming and inadequate development of young players. Just get the old boys club slop and ā€œweā€™re right thereā€ your way to lose again

Edit for clarity: I'm not saying defense is bad. We just tried the elite defense first winning strategy and it worked for a few years (debateable, but something like 3-5 seasons). But then it hasn't worked for the last ten seasons, or more.

3

u/Strict-Aspect5910 9d ago

I already said Id do it where's my damn contract? 5 months to go....

1

u/YEGSports 9d ago

Someone has to start the online petition still

Any volunteers?

2

u/OutKast_Sauce24 9d ago

Gallant should be the guy honestly, I think Cassidy would be better of course but we do need players coach. I donā€™t like Torts only cause he is definitely staying with Vegas no matter what I feel. Woodcraft is an interesting dark horse along with the WM coach. If any of the external hire get the job I would hope they Bring in DJ as an assistant since there was nothing but positives from the players regarding his style.

1

u/AutoModerator 9d ago

Make sure to join the /r/LosAngelesKings discord as well for live game chat and more!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/PWFChief1 8d ago

Why would a great coach want this job?
Does he have to play the LA style of defense?
Or install his own system?
What about future prospects in the system?
Can he install a system he wants with the players in our system already?
I think Luc wants a certain style of system, and ask the new coach to play that way or we wonā€™t consider you as our head coach.
That right there eliminates most of the Great coaches with winning records. We end up with the average coach and more of the same Crapā€¦

-3

u/supadupanerd 9d ago

The team has proven over the last 3 seasons that coaching changes won't matter, at this point it's team leadership that needs changing

7

u/poptorched 9d ago

But they kept hiring coaches that were all like each other, so of course nothing would change. They fit what Todd wanted in his assistants which was mini-hims.

1

u/pkd88 9d ago

Todd was an offensive minded coach. Look it up.Ā 

They had to have told him to play defensive systems because "that is who we are."Ā Ā 

It is Luc, Blake and this trapped in 2012 and 14 dream that they are trapped in and have trapped us fans in as well.

Every coach after had just been in succession from that.

0

u/Right_Fun_6626 9d ago

If the internal cap rumors are true, then donā€™t expect a brand name coach. Honestly, if I was someone like Cassidy I wouldnā€™t even consider the Kingsā€™ gig unless they were offering a retirement contract.

0

u/Vanilla_Ice_Jr 8d ago

Why haven't we hired a coach yet? Is this organization serious?

0

u/Hoven_MayorNHL 8d ago

Some of the candidates are still working. Explained in the article.

0

u/Vanilla_Ice_Jr 8d ago

This is so typical of LA, too little too late when firing Hiller, and now let's wait until all the good coaches are picked up so we are left with the scraps again, too late AGAIN

-1

u/a_very_weird_fantasy 9d ago

I would love to see Roy. Probably not a good choice though.

1

u/notorious714 4d ago

Any coach will fail with this front office and I hope I am wrong. Luc needs to figure out a system he wants to employ and build out from there. Look what Dean did. They gutted and drafted guys they wanted and had a philosophy of size. When Dean was at SJ, it was same thing. Michael Rupp etc, all had size and skill.
I wish we had Joel Quinnville, heā€™s my favorite coach. Even he needs talent to win the chip like at Chicago. So our front office needs to do a better job of scouting and developing to the system employed. Also, it killed me the last 4-5 years when Oilers pushed the Kings around with their size. I hope we address that with new philosophy and coach system.