Peter Laviolette's hiring is now officially confirmed
The Los Angeles Kings are getting Peter Laviolette as their next head coach, per Elliotte Friedman this Monday, and the Kings weren't the only ones who wanted him.
Friedman reported that both Edmonton and Toronto were also in the mix before Los Angeles locked him up.
That detail matters. Laviolette wasn't a consolation prize for a rebuilding franchise. Two of the most scrutinized markets in the league came calling, and he still ended up in Southern California.
Ken Holland has been the Kings' GM since May 2025, and this is a significant swing for the organization.
Los Angeles finished the season 35-27-20 for 90 points, ranking 20th overall and fourth in the Pacific Division.
That record was fine. Not good enough, but fine. The kind of record that screams "good team missing something at the top."
Edmonton and Toronto both wanted Laviolette, and that tells you everything
D.J. Smith had been behind the Kings bench since March 2026, a short-term appointment that was never going to be the permanent answer.
Laviolette, on the other hand, has won a Stanley Cup. He's coached in Washington, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and New York. He knows what a locker room looks like when it believes in itself, and what one looks like when it doesn't.
Edmonton's situation is particularly interesting here. The Oilers finished 41-30-11 and 93 points, second in the Pacific, with no head coach currently listed. Stan Bowman is running the front office, and that vacancy is real.
Toronto was 32-36-14 with 78 points, 28th overall, and no coach entry in any public record right now.
Both teams losing this race is a story of its own.
Laviolette walking into LA instead of Edmonton or Toronto says something about how both those markets look to a veteran coach weighing his options.
Whether he can push the Kings past 90 points and into legitimate playoff contention is the question nobody in Los Angeles can answer yet.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||