Kings Re-Sign Martin Chromiak To Two-Way Deal
The Kings are keeping winger Martin Chromiak off this summer’s restricted free agent market. They announced they’ve re-signed the 22-year-old to a one-year, two-way deal for 2025-26 that carries the league minimum $775K cap hit. He’ll earn $100K in the minors, according to PuckPedia.
Chromiak was a fifth-round pick of the Kings in the 2020 draft. In the years since, the 6’0″ Slovak winger hasn’t taken many forward steps in his development. After his entry-level deal took effect with the 2022-23 season, he’s played exclusively for AHL Ontario. His point per game totals each season carry little variation: 0.51 in his 2022-23 showing, 0.46 in 2023-24, and 0.57 here in 2024-25.
While a well-rounded offensive talent who still carries some upside, it’s fair to question at this point whether he’ll have the minor-league breakout season necessary to warrant a call-up. Without some more demonstrable improvement in 2025-26, he’s at risk of being a non-tender when this new two-way deal is up and taking an early trip to the UFA market.
Chromiak has represented Slovakia at two of the last three World Championships, recording two goals in 14 games. He has a career 48-51–99 scoring line in 196 AHL games, including 18 goals and 39 points in 69 outings this year. The Kings control his signing rights through the 2029-30 season.
LA Kings Sign Defenseman Kirill Kirsanov To Entry-Level Deal
The Los Angeles Kings have signed 22-year-old defenseman Kirill Kirsanov to a two-year entry-level deal, the team announced today. Kirsanov, the team’s third-round selection in the 2021 draft, spent last season split between the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL and the Torpedo-Gorky NN in the VHL (Russia’s top developmental league). His contract will run through the 2026-27 season.
At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Kirsanov already has the physical traits NHL teams covet and profiles more as a prototypical defensive-minded blueliner than an offensive one. In 34 games in the KHL last season, he posted three goals and seven points to go along with eight penalty minutes and a plus-five rating. He scored seven points in 28 VHL regular season games and added five points in 19 playoff games for Torpedo-Gorky NN, who would go on to win their first VHL Championship in club history.
The Kings appear to have most of their defensive spots locked up for next season with Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson, Joel Edmundson, Jordan Spence, and Brandt Clarke all set to return, and Kyle Burroughs and Jacob Moverare also in the mix. While Kirsanov will more than likely begin his North American career in the AHL, his development will be crucial for a team facing several question marks on the blue line in the not-too-distant future. Spence and Clarke both have one year remaining on their current contracts and are due for significant raises, while Moverare and Burroughs are also entering the final year of their deals. If Kirsanov can put all the pieces together, he could push for an NHL spot sooner rather than later.
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.