The Los Angeles Kings announced Tuesday the hiring of veteran NHL coach Peter Laviolette as the franchise’s new head coach.
Laviolette, 61, becomes the 32nd head coach in franchise history and joins the Kings with 846 career regular-season victories, the seventh-most in NHL history.
He replaces D.J. Smith, who took over on an interim basis after the Kings dismissed Jim Hiller in March. Smith led Los Angeles into the Stanley Cup playoffs before the club opted to conduct a broader coaching search.
“We are thrilled to name Peter Laviolette as the next head coach of the LA Kings,” General Manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “We evaluated a strong group of candidates and Peter’s experience, his championship pedigree, and his proven ability to get the most out of his players set him apart.”
Laviolette owns a career coaching record of 846-562-186 over 23 NHL seasons with the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers.
He led the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006 and has guided 14 teams to the Stanley Cup playoffs. His postseason record stands at 88-82 in 170 games.
Laviolette is one of only four coaches in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final with three different franchises, having done so with Carolina, Philadelphia and Nashville.
A native of Franklin, Massachusetts, Laviolette has coached teams to the 50-win mark three times and the 100-point plateau in eight seasons. He won Presidents’ Trophies with Nashville in 2017-18 and the Rangers in 2023-24.
Before entering the NHL coaching ranks, Laviolette coached the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and the AHL’s Providence Bruins, leading Providence to a Calder Cup championship in 1999.
Laviolette also has international coaching experience with Team USA, serving on coaching staffs for the 2014 Winter Olympics, three IIHF World Championships and the 2005 World Cup of Hockey.
As a player, he appeared in 12 NHL games with the New York Rangers during the 1988-89 season and spent parts of 11 seasons in the minor leagues.
Laviolette and Holland are scheduled to formally introduce the new coach during a Wednesday afternoon news conference in El Segundo.