The Kings just detonated their coaching staff with 17 games left, betting that DJ Smith’s familiar voice can rescue a season—and a franchise legend’s last shot at playoff glory—before the math runs out.
Why this move is happening now
The math is brutal. Los Angeles sits three points outside the final wild-card spot with the league’s fourth-toughest remaining schedule, per NHL standings data. After dropping five straight—culminating in Sunday’s 8-1 humiliation by Edmonton—GM Ken Holland decided his hand-picked successor had lost the room.
- Record since Olympic break: 0-3-0, out-scored 16-5
- Five-on-five goal share under Hiller in 2025-26: 46.1%, 27th in NHL
- Power play since Jan. 1: 14-for-111 (12.6%)
Holland’s December vote of confidence—“I expect him to be here the rest of the season”—lasted exactly 70 days.
What Hiller leaves behind
Hiller’s tenure is a study in almost-there. Promoted from interim to permanent last May after a 21-12-1 audition, he guided the Kings to a franchise-record 105 points in 2024-25 and a second straight playoff date with Edmonton. Up 2-0 at home in that series, Los Angeles lost four straight, intensifying calls for lineup and tactical changes. Hiller doubled down on veteran minutes and top-heavy forward usage; the room quietly fractured, culminating in February’s slide.
His 69-44-15 regular-season mark (.601 points percentage) looks stout on paper—until you realize the Kings are 0-8 in their last eight playoff games, all against the Oilers.
DJ Smith’s résumé: defense-first, familiarity, desperation
Smith isn’t a stranger. He spent four seasons on the Maple Leafs’ bench alongside Hiller (2015-19) and ran Ottawa’s rebuild from 2019-23, posting a 95-114-26 mark while leaning on young cores. His Sens were top-10 in expected goals against twice, and he inherits a Kings roster that still owns the NHL’s third-best shots-against rate (28.1 per 60 at five-on-five).
Associate coach for two seasons in L.A., Smith already manages the blue-line pairings and penalty kill. Promoting him keeps the structure intact—crucial for a team that relies on Anze Kopitar’s 200-foot IQ and Kevin Fiala’s counter-attack—while introducing a louder voice and, hopefully, quicker hooks.
What changes immediately
- Forward deployment: Smith historically embraces youth. Watch for 22-year-old Alex Laferriere to move into the top-six and grinder Carl Grundström to see heavier forechecking minutes.
- Goalie rotation: The Darcy Kuemper–Pheonix Copley 1A/1B experiment could tilt to whoever grabs the first start; Smith rode a hot Anton Forsberg during Ottawa’s 2021 push.
- Special-teams tweak: Kings PP has loaded half-wall talent (Fiala, Kempe) but stagnated. Smith’s Sens often funneled pucks to the bumper—hello, Phillip Danault.
- Emotional reset: Smith’s first practice featured a five-minute “team identity” chalk-talk—players say it already feels less systematic, more accountable.
Kopitar’s final ride hangs in the balance
Everything revolves around Anze Kopitar, 38, who confirmed 2025-26 is his last lap. The captain needs only 21 games to reach 1,500 for his career, but more pressing, the Kings have not won a playoff round since 2014. Holland must sell pending UFAs—Sean Walker, Viktor Arvidsson, maybe even Cam Talbot—if they fall four points back. Smith’s marching orders: stage a run now or watch the last pillar of two Cup teams walk into the sunset of irrelevance.
Future ripple effects
A short-term burst keeps Los Angeles in the wild-card chase—Vegas and St. Louis own games in hand, but neither is bulletproof. If Smith steers even a 10-6-1 finish, he will audition for the full-time role this summer, especially if Holland stays (his own contract expires June 30). Miss by four-plus points and the Kings pivot to a full post-Kopitar reset, armed with three first-round picks over the next two drafts.
Either way, this is the most consequential coaching swap in L.A. since Darryl Sutter replaced Terry Murray in 2011—the move that sparked their first Stanley Cup. History says Smith has eight weeks to author his own chapter or become a footnote in someone else’s rebuild.
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