Kings to hire Payne as assistant

Dean Lombardi confirmed, via email, this morning that the Kings will hire Davis Payne as an assistant coach to replace Jamie Kompon (as first noted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Payne fills the qualifications that Darryl Sutter set forth last week — in this post — when he talked about hiring an assistant coach. Payne is young (he turns 42 in September) and has a deep connection to the Western Conference. He took over as interim coach of the St. Louis Blues during the 2009-10 season and held that job until he was fired 13 games into last season.

Payne played eight seasons at the NHL, IHL and ECHL levels as a winger, including 22 games with the Boston Bruins in the mid-1990s. He is also a former ECHL and AHL head coach.

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