Kings Finalize Peter Laviolette's Coaching Staff With Three Key Additions
The Los Angeles Kings finalized Peter Laviolette's coaching staff Tuesday by hiring Phil Housley, Chris Hajt and Ray Whitney ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season.
Video Transcript
Well, the Los Angeles Kings have officially won the Peter Laviolette sweepstakes.
Yes, DJ Smith is out and Peter Laviolette, who had been courted by a number of teams, most notably the Toronto Maple Leafs, has decided to take his talents to Los Angeles.
Joined by King's site editor and reporter Connor Doyle.
And Connor, what do you make of Peter Laviolette getting the job of the LA Kings?
Well, this certainly means that the Kings weren't, weren't gonna wait for Bruce Cassidy, even though there's a lot going on there with behind the scenes, between the franchises.
I think he was the next best bet.
I know there's a certain amount of candidates the Kings were looking at.
the fact that they gave DJ Smith this long of a look after the kind of the success he had down the stretch, I think says a lot about what he did and how they performed under him.
But I think with the current market, they, they really got a top guy.
Yeah, a- and you mentioned a top guy.
Laviolette obviously is coach forever.
he's in his 60s, you know, he won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Most recently was, behind the bench of the New York Rangers.
Before that, Washington Capitals, you know, and before that Nashville Predators.
He doesn't go to teams that are looking to rebuild or develop, you know?
He's very much looked upon as a guy that's gonna get you over the edge and get you a championship.
Does that equate with what the LA Kings are going to be next season, Connor?
Yeah, that is a, fully loaded question, with a couple sides.
it's, it's, it's a great move for the Kings, but it's also a confusing one because Laviolette also comes with normally like an up-tempo system, that really has an active D core and, it's been well noted and well annotated by myself and by a few colleagues that the Kings probably have the most immobile D core in the, in the entire league on the blue line.
So this, this might signal maybe an off season where they do make some changes on the blue line, 'cause right now the Laviolette fit may be a little puzzling when you look at how inactive this D core is and how locked in place they are with no movement clauses.
You got a hefty Drew Doughty contract.
You gotta make a decision on Brandt Clarke.
So, and also I would add a tangent there that Laviolette's also preferentially been heavily favored towards maybe veterans, and this is a team that really needs to be led by Brandt Clarke and Quinton Byfield moving forward, and you could probably throw Alex Laferriere in there too.
Yeah.
I, I would argue that, you know, no matter what the, the roster looks like on paper, Laviolette coming in probably does signal that this team is trying to keep that championship window or at least playoff window open as long as possible.
Yeah.
And hey, we know Dylan Larkin is out there too, Col- Connor.
don't be surprised- Mm-hmm if maybe, you know, Ken Holland decides to go big game hunting this summer.
We'll see.
Uh- Yeah follow all the news at thehockeynews.com as well as thn.com/la.
For Connor Doyle, I'm Michael Traikos.
