The Los Angeles Kings are hiring Peter Laviolette as head coach, according to multiple reports, choosing a veteran bench boss after another early playoff exit and a short interim spell under D.J. Smith.
The move gives Los Angeles a coach with 1,594 regular-season NHL games behind him, a Stanley Cup win with Carolina in 2006, and two more trips to the Final with Philadelphia in 2010 and Nashville in 2017. It is also Laviolette’s seventh NHL head-coaching job, following stops with the Islanders, Hurricanes, Flyers, Predators, Capitals, and Rangers.
For the Kings, this is less a rebuild hire than a pressure hire. The franchise has remained competitive enough to reach the postseason, but not dangerous enough to last there. Los Angeles was swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, its fifth consecutive first-round elimination.
Why Los Angeles chose experience
The Kings had other options. Smith, who finished the season as interim coach, was in the mix. Jay Woodcroft, the former Edmonton Oilers head coach and Anaheim Ducks assistant, was also considered. Instead, Los Angeles went with the coach whose resume most clearly says he has managed high-expectation rooms before.
That matters because the Kings are not trying to teach a young roster how to be professional from scratch. They are trying to turn a playoff-caliber group into one that can survive a matchup against elite opponents. Those are different jobs.
Laviolette’s career has been built around teams that need structure, pace, and playoff credibility quickly. His Carolina team won the Cup in 2006. His Flyers reached the Final in 2010. His Predators made the Final in 2017, the deepest run in that franchise’s history. Not every stop ended well, and his recent two-year run with the New York Rangers ended after they missed the playoffs in 2024-25. But the Kings are clearly prioritizing a coach who has already lived through long playoff springs.
The real problem is not just coaching
Changing coaches can clarify expectations, but it does not erase the pattern that made the change necessary. Five straight first-round exits point to a team good enough to qualify and not good enough, or not adaptable enough, to win when opponents can scheme against them for a full series.
That is where Laviolette’s hiring should be judged. Regular-season competence will not be enough. Los Angeles needs answers for playoff details: how quickly it adjusts matchups, how it creates offense when the first plan stalls, how it handles pressure from faster teams, and whether its special teams can hold up when margins shrink.
A concrete example: if the Kings face another opponent built like Colorado, the issue is not simply whether they can “play harder.” It is whether the coach can find workable line combinations when the top matchup is losing minutes, protect weaker defensive pairings without becoming passive, and create cleaner entries when neutral-zone pressure kills the rush. Those are coaching problems, roster problems, and player-execution problems at the same time. Laviolette’s job is to make them look less tangled.
What Laviolette brings, and what he does not solve
The appeal is obvious. Laviolette brings authority, playoff history, and the credibility to walk into a veteran room without needing a long runway. For a team that has already spent years near the postseason picture, that is valuable.
The risk is just as clear. A veteran coach is not automatically a modernizing force. Laviolette’s recent Rangers tenure ended with a missed playoff berth, and Los Angeles is not hiring a fresh developmental voice. It is hiring a coach whose strongest argument is that he has handled this kind of pressure before.
That makes the contract term important. A reported three-year deal gives Laviolette enough time to install his approach, but it also keeps the evaluation window tight. The Kings are not signaling patience for a long reset. They are trying to convert what they already have.
The wider coaching market
Laviolette’s hiring also affects the remaining NHL coaching market. Sportsnet reported that he had interviewed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and that the Edmonton Oilers had interest. With Los Angeles now moving toward Laviolette, Toronto and Edmonton remain among the clubs still sorting out their coaching situations.
That context helps explain why the Kings acted decisively. Proven coaches with Cup experience do not stay unattached for long when multiple high-profile teams have openings. Los Angeles chose not to extend its search for a higher-upside gamble or stay with the interim option.
What to watch next
The first clues will come from Laviolette’s staff, his handling of the Kings’ core players, and whether Los Angeles changes the way it plays against speed. Coaching hires are often judged by press-conference language in June. This one should be judged by April.
- Assistant coaches: The staff will show whether the Kings want continuity, tactical change, or both.
- Special teams: Playoff series often turn on small edges, and Laviolette’s setup will be watched closely.
- Top-six usage: How he deploys the Kings’ best forwards against elite opponents will matter more than regular-season point totals.
- Postseason response: The hire only works if Los Angeles looks less predictable in a first-round series.
The Kings have chosen a coach with one of the longest resumes available. That does not guarantee a deeper run, but it does define the standard. Laviolette is not arriving to make Los Angeles respectable. The Kings have already been that. He is being hired to make the first round stop feeling like the ceiling.