LOS ANGELES – The Kings have hired Peter Laviolette as their new head coach. More changes could be expected to bolster the coaching staff.
Peter Laviolette is a Stanley Cup-winning head coach with 24 seasons of NHL experience. Along with the title he won with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, Laviolette has two other Stanley Cup appearances with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 and the Nashville Predators in 2017.
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Now, the Kings are hoping Laviolette can bring playoff success to their organization. Los Angeles has been eliminated in the first round in the past five seasons.
So the biggest question with this hire is how Laviolette will benefit the Kings’ playing style? The answer to that it is a great fit for the Los Angeles organization.
During his interim tenure as head coach, DJ Smith enhanced the defensive success through activating the backend along with forechecking and physicality. This defensive scheme helped the Kings go from outside the playoff picture to secure the final wild card spot.
Throughout Laviolette’s career, he has been known as a coach with a team that pushes the pace and presents a heavy forecheck. Every team Laviolette has coached has played an aggressive forecheck, which has led to massive improvements in their puck possession.
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The season before the Flyers hired Laviolette, Philadelphia had a 47.65% CF in 2009, but that skyrocketed to 50.93% in 2010. The Predators had a 48.44% CF in 2014, but with Laviolette, that improved to 52.82% in 2015.
Teams that struggled with forechecking found success in the very next season with Laviolette as their head coach. Now, Laviolette gets to coach a Kings team that is already fond of forechecking.
Los Angeles had a 52.22% CF, which ranked in the top 10 in the NHL last season. A forecheck-heavy coach should find success with a team that has already excelled in puck possession.
The Kings dropped from 105 points to 90 points in the Pacific, while young teams like the Ducks and Sharks surged in the standings. With the right offseason moves, an upbeat tempo, active defensemen, and aggressive forecheck could keep the Kings competitive against their rivals.
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While the Laviolette hire activates the defensive core in place, how else will the offense improve? That’s where the Kings will have to make another decision for the coaching staff.
Newell Brown was hired back in the 2025 season to help the power play improve. However, the Kings have experienced an even larger decline in the power play since then.
In 2024, the Kings had a 22.6% power play, which ranked 11th in the league. The next season, Brown gets hired, and the power play drops to 17.9% and 27th overall.
As underwhelming as the power play was in 2025, it was even worse this past season. The Kings had a 17% power-play percentage, which ranked 28th overall.
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Brown led the Kings’ power play to a bottom-six percentage in both of his seasons as an assistant coach. Brown’s power-play strategy has been criticized by fans and reporters for the struggle.
In the past two seasons, the Kings’ power play has been holding the puck to set up the perfect shot. Nonetheless, one good look at a power play isn’t as effective as four difficult shots.
A north-to-south style creates more shots on net, which creates more chances for goals. This style of hockey also aligns with the new head coach, who likes to forecheck and play fast.
Therefore, an east-to-west offense that has struggled will not align with Laviolette’s vision for the team. Making it apparent that Brown might be the next coach to be replaced for the Kings.
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It is not official that the Kings are moving on from assistant coach Brown, but it is heavily speculated that this could be the move, with new head coach offseason hires typically comes with new staff preferences. The head coach hire may just be the beginning of the coaching overhaul for Los Angeles.
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