Marco Sturm Not Yet Solidified As Bruins Head Coach
Contrary to reports Tuesday night, Marco Sturm is not set in stone as the Bruins’ head coaching hire. He’s high on their list and remains a frontrunner, but the club is still going through their final round of interviews with a few candidates, including Sturm, and hasn’t offered the job to anyone, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on this morning’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
It was likely too early to expect news on a hire in Boston anyway. They only completed their first round of interviews within the last few days. In addition to Sturm, those interviews included a pair of internal promotions in assistant coach Jay Leach and interim head coach Joe Sacco, Capitals assistant Mitch Love, former Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson, and ex-Oilers bench boss Jay Woodcroft. A report from RG’s Jimmy Murphy yesterday indicated Love, Sturm, and Woodcroft have emerged as the final three candidates.
Sturm would be a logical hire for a team looking to shake things up offensively while continuing their trend of inserting people in coaching and front office roles who have familiarity with the organization. Sturm was part of one of the most significant trades in franchise history two decades ago. Boston acquired him, along with checking center Wayne Primeau and defenseman Brad Stuart, from the Sharks in exchange for All-Star center Joe Thornton.
The German winger lasted the longest with the Bruins out of the three. He scored 106 goals and 193 points in 302 games with the B’s in parts of five seasons, seeing his tenure end following knee surgery and a trade to the Kings early in the 2010-11 campaign. He hit the 20-goal mark in all four of his healthy seasons in Boston
Until Leon Draisaitl shattered his record several years ago, Sturm was the highest-scoring German player in NHL history. Since heading home to wrap up his playing career in 2013, Sturm began his coaching career with a bang, coaching Germany to a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in just his third season behind the bench of the national team. That earned him an NHL job with the Kings organization, where he’s remained since. He spent four years on the NHL bench as an assistant before transitioning into a head coaching role for AHL Ontario in 2022. While Boston would be his first NHL head coaching gig, he’s got both NHL bench experience and head coaching experience.
Kings Retaining Marc Bergevin As Senior Advisor
After coming up short for the Islanders’ GM vacancy, Marc Bergevin will remain in his role with the Kings as a senior advisor, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports.
Los Angeles hired Bergevin, 59, midway through the 2021-22 campaign. He’s remained with the team since as one of the top input men for former GM Rob Blake. He’ll now continue to do the same for Ken Holland, whom the Kings installed as the 10th general manager in franchise history earlier this month.
Bergevin’s time with L.A. kicked off shortly after he was relieved of his duties as general manager by the Canadiens, his hometown team. The longtime NHL defenseman spent nearly a decade in the GM’s chair in Montreal after he was hired in advance of the 2012-13 season. He nearly ended up landing the second GM role of his executive career this week. He was one of two finalists for the New York job but was passed over today in favor of Mathieu Darche.
As for the Kings, there are no other indications of any staff changes outside of the Blake/Holland swap. Luc Robitaille remains in his post as team president and alternate governor while the rest of the hockey operations staff, including Bergevin and assistant GM Nelson Emerson, will remain in their posts.
Holland Plans To Be Aggressive As Kings GM
- In a long-winded interview with the Los Angeles Kings’ new General Manager, Ken Holland, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun believes the Kings are going ‘big game hunting’ under their new leadership. Per a quote from the interview, Holland said, “I plan to be aggressive. Ownership is prepared to go to the cap. The goal is to put a competitive team on the ice and, at the right time, be aggressive to try to make the team better and more exciting. Whether that happens in the next six to seven weeks or next year at the trade deadline or next offseason … but certainly the plan is to be aggressive at the right time.“
[SOURCE LINK]
Ken Holland Accepts Kings GM Position
May 16: According to a report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Holland’s contract with the Kings will run for three years.
May 13: After days of anticipation, it has been released that Ken Holland has accepted the Kings’ general manager role, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (paywalled content). St. James covered Holland for many years during his extensive career with the Detroit Red Wings. Holland will become the 10th GM in Kings’ history.
May 12: It appears that the Kings are making progress with Holland. Friedman reports that indications are that Los Angeles is closing in on landing Holland as their next GM.
May 10: Former Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland recently met with the Los Angeles Kings to discuss their open GM position, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in his 32 Thoughts podcast.
As Friedman notes, the Kings are surveying both internal and external options, but Holland is firmly in the mix. On the podcast, Friedman said, “One of the names that is starting to circulate a little bit right now for the Kings is Ken Holland. He was in the mix for the Islanders and I am reserving judgment for where I think the Islanders could be going here,” Friedman said. “But I’ve heard Holland’s name with the Kings and if they go external, he may have a shot here.”
The longtime general manager of the Red Wings, Ken Holland, led the team to four Stanley Cup championships. In 2019, he was promoted to senior vice president to make way for Steve Yzerman to take over as general manager. Soon after, Holland was named general manager of the Oilers and tasked with leading a young, talented roster to championship success—just as he had done in Detroit. Despite several deep playoff runs, including falling just one win short last season, he was ultimately unable to deliver a title. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Holland and the team mutually agreed to part ways. Holland has also been rumored for other teams this hiring cycle, including the New York Islanders.
As Pierre LeBrun notes, Holland met with Kings president Luc Robitaille to discuss the position. But as Lebrun adds, the expectation is the team will meet with several more candidates before any decision is made. On May 5, the Kings and former GM Rob Blake mutually agreed to part ways, with Robitaille tasked to lead a search for Blake’s successor. Blake leaves his successor with a favorable salary cap structure. The Kings have over $23MM to spend this summer with just four roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia.
Hiller Will Remain Head Coach Next Season
Speaking at his introductory press conference today (video link), Kings GM Ken Holland revealed that head coach Jim Hiller will remain with Los Angeles for next season. Hiller just completed his first full season as head coach of the team with the Kings picking up 105 points in the standings, tying their franchise record set back in 1974-75. However, they weren’t able to shake their recent playoff struggles, falling to the Oilers in the first round for the fourth straight year, leading some to wonder if Holland would opt to go in a different direction. However, that won’t be the case and Holland added that he has no intention of rebuilding or retooling this roster, meaning that Hiller should have largely the same group of core players for 2025-26.
D.J. Smith Interviewing For Multiple Head Coach Vacancies
The Kings have given associate coach D.J. Smith permission to pursue head coaching opportunities across the league this offseason, Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period reports. He’s already received multiple interviews.
Smith has been with L.A. for just over 15 months. The Kings hired him in February 2024 after the Senators fired him as their head coach two months prior. He was brought in less than a week after L.A. canned former head coach Todd McLellan and elevated current bench boss Jim Hiller to the interim HC role.
For teams looking for an experienced head coaching hire, Smith fits the bill. He’s one of the younger options available at age 47, but he spent over four full seasons in control of the Ottawa bench and, before that, spent four years with the Maple Leafs as an assistant. In 317 games coaching the rebuilding Sens, Smith compiled a 131-154-32 (.464) record. He’s still looking for his first playoff berth.
But by the end of his tenure in Ottawa, Smith had coached the Sens into being an above-average defensive squad. Goaltending and poor finishing luck were the Sens’ downfalls in 2022-23, his last full season behind the bench, but they were a playoff-caliber team by most other metrics. Ottawa ranked eighth in power play percentage and 14th in penalty kill percentage while posting good 5-on-5 scoring chance suppression numbers.
Briefly a depth defenseman in the NHL with the Leafs and Avalanche, Smith also spent three years as a head coach in the junior ranks with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, winning Coach of the Year and a league championship in that span.
Fiala To Play For Switzerland At Worlds
Kings winger Kevin Fiala’s season hasn’t come to an end just yet. After originally being unable to play at the Worlds due to some travel issues, the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation announced that Fiala will indeed be able to join the squad, filling their final spot. The 28-year-old was the tournament MVP last year, notching seven goals and six assists in just eight games. This season, Fiala had a career-high 35 goals in 81 games for Los Angeles while recording seven points in six games in their first-round exit at the hands of Edmonton.
Pat Brisson Not Interested In Kings' GM Job
As the Kings continue their search for their new general manager, it appears they kicked the tires on assessing veteran agent Pat Brisson’s interest in the position. However, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Brisson is not expected to be interviewed for the role as he doesn’t have any interest in leaving his agent role with CAA. Brisson was believed to be contacted regarding Montreal’s opening a few years ago but wasn’t interested in leaving then either. He has 94 active NHL contracts, per PuckPedia, carrying a combined cap hit this season of more than $266MM so it’s not surprising that he wants to remain an agent.
The Kings Have Work To Do To Take The Next Step
For the fourth consecutive season, the Los Angeles Kings were bounced from the opening round of the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers. This year felt like the Kings’ best chance to turn their fortunes finally, and it certainly seemed likely after the Kings took a 2-0 series lead. But they would go on to lose four straight games, and in the end, the result was all too familiar. The Kings will have a lot to evaluate this summer, from management to coaching to the players donning the jerseys; everything will be on the table for a team that hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014.
The Kings were far from a perfectly built team but had a strong season, finishing as the second seed in the Pacific Division with a 48-25-9 record. The team struggled to hold leads, which ultimately proved to be their downfall, particularly the blown opportunities in Games 3 and 4 of the Oilers series. The primary reason for these blown leads was a lack of depth, as the Kings were forced to rely on their top nine forwards and top four defensemen almost exclusively, and the bottom of their lineup lacked effectiveness. This obvious issue falls on management, which couldn’t address a clear concern at the bottom of the lineup.
Speaking of management, the future of the Kings’ general manager, Rob Blake, was very much in question, but many Kings pundits believed that Blake and head coach Jim Hiller would stick around for next season. Yet, Blake and the Kings mutually agreed to part ways this week, marking the end of a run as GM that had both hits and misses. Blake took over from former GM Dean Lombardi a day after the 2016-17 season ended, previously serving as an assistant GM. He did not win a playoff series during his eight-year tenure and had no contract for the upcoming season. He was supposed to build the Kings into a team that could challenge for the Stanley Cup, but some questionable decisions left the Kings as more of a pretender than a contender.
Blake undoubtedly made some terrific trades, notably the Jake Muzzin trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which netted Los Angeles Sean Durzi, Carl Grundstrom, and a first-round pick. Another notable piece of work by Blake was the trade with Toronto for Jack Campbell, which included Trevor Moore and two third-round picks. There have been other solid moves, but the trade and extension for Pierre-Luc Dubois and some other poor salary cap management have overshadowed them.
Behind the bench, Kings fans will likely hope that the team moves on from Hiller, whose system has made the Kings look like a team playing not to lose rather than a club playing to win. Los Angeles would do well to hire a coach who can operate a creative offense that prioritizes high-pressure forechecking, such as Mike Sullivan. Unfortunately for the Kings, he has already been plucked out of free agency by the New York Rangers. Other options are available, but Los Angeles should move quickly if they plan to hire a new bench boss.
On the ice, the Kings will have some salary cap space available this summer, with roughly $23.27MM and just four players to sign. UFA defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov is one of those players who will eat close to a quarter of the space if he re-signs. Forward Alex Laferriere will also need a new deal, but shouldn’t break the bank. Should that happen, the Kings would have approximately $15MM available and just a couple of players to sign.
So, what should they do with the cap space? Upgrading their fourth-line and bottom defensive pairing is a must. The Kings bled chances with their fourth line on the ice this season, and it was a revolving door that was not addressed, ultimately costing them when the games mattered most. Fixing that issue is paramount; the fix isn’t necessarily complicated or expensive. The Kings need more forwards who can contribute offensively, which could push some of their third-liners down the lineup, thus creating a better overall forward group.
In the playoffs, the Kings’ fourth line mainly consisted of Alex Turcotte, Jeff Malott, Trevor Lewis, and Samuel Helenius. Of those players, only Turcotte averaged more than five minutes of ice time per game, highlighting an apparent roster construction flaw that put too much pressure on the top nine and ultimately wore the forwards down as the games continued.
On the back end, Brandt Clarke, Jordan Spence and Jacob Moverare played most of the Kings’ bottom pairing minutes, with just Clarke breaking the 10-minute per-game mark by averaging 12:47 of ice time per game. Clarke is part of the Kings’ solution on the bottom pairing and should improve from the experience, but finding a solid defensive partner for him would go a long way to buttoning up the defensive issues that plagued Los Angeles in the playoffs.
The Kings will likely run back the bulk of their core next season while trying to infuse a few younger players into the lineup and elevate them. It won’t be music to the ears of fans who are calling for radical changes. Still, given the salary cap corner the Kings are painted into with some of their long-term deals, it would be difficult to imagine a complete overhaul, especially when the team has been preaching about being “right there” for several years. The Blake move is a start for Los Angeles, and it will be interesting to see what other moves they make as they try to take the next step.
Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Kings Want To Extend Vladislav Gavrikov, Andrei Kuzmenko
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Kings mutually parted ways with their former General Manager, Rob Blake. Despite this change, the team is reportedly looking to secure contract extensions for defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and forward Andrei Kuzmenko, who are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer (Tweet Link).
Gavrikov has emerged as a top-four option in the Kings’ defense, especially during the Kings’ period without Drew Doughty during the 2024-25 season. In early January, the Kings’ defensive leader in +/- and blocked shots expressed his desire for a long-term contract, saying, “When I got to L.A., I needed time to decide if my family and I wanted to stay. That’s why we agreed on a short-term contract with the Kings. Now we know what we want, and we can sign a long-term deal here.” The most recent comparable for Gavrikov is the six-year, $33.3MM contract extension defenseman Kaiden Guhle signed with the Montreal Canadiens last July.
Meanwhile, Kuzmenko was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in March 2025, with the Flyers retaining 50% of his salary. Known for his net-front presence and power-play contributions, he performed positively in Los Angeles, scoring five goals and 17 points in 22 games. Due to his inconsistent play over the past year, it is challenging to estimate Kuzmenko’s asking price for his next contract.
Other Pacific Division notes:
- According to John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor, the Los Angeles Kings have not yet initiated extension negotiations with forward Tanner Jeannot. Despite facing injury concerns, Jeannot had a better season than the previous year, scoring six goals and recording 13 points in 67 games, along with 211 hits. If he requests a salary close to his current $2.665 million or lower, there should be mutual interest between him and Los Angeles for an extension in a fourth-line role.
- Pavel Dorofeyev will not be in the lineup for the Vegas Golden Knights tonight due to an injury sustained in Game 5 of their opening-round matchup against the Minnesota Wild, causing him to miss the remainder of that game and Game 6 (Tweet Link). His status is considered day-to-day as the team monitors his recovery. Despite losing their fourth-highest-scoring forward from the regular season, the Golden Knights still possess ample depth on the wing.