Multiple Reports: Peter Laviolette to be named as new Kings Head Coach, 3-Year Term

As per numerous reports this morning, the LA Kings are set to name Peter Laviolette as the team’s new Head Coach.

Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Kings

Edmonton and Toronto were also interested

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 8, 2026

Sources say #LAKings are negotiating a deal that would make Peter Laviolette their next head coach.

There has been competition – #Oilers and #Leafs both interviewed Laviolette and he was expected to be a finalist for both positions.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 8, 2026

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Victory Plus’ Frank Seravalli, both the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs were interested in Laviolette as well but ultimately, he lands with the Kings. Per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the contract is a three-year contract for Laviolette, which I think is ultimately a good term for this hire.

Once the hire is formalized, which should be expected to be soon now that it is out there, I’ll have a larger breakdown with some thoughts on Laviolette. Wednesday is the day he is expected to be unveiled formally with a press conference. However, having suspected this was the hire over the last little bit, I was able to dive in a bit to what Laviolette has done throughout his tenure as an NHL Head Coach. What I have found is that he’s got a solid track record of instantly improving teams that he takes over. He has coached six different organizations throughout his career and five of them have seen quick jumps forward.

From the start, the New York Islanders missed the playoffs seven straight seasons before qualifying in both of Laviolette’s seasons behind the bench, offering up a 44-point improvement during his first season with the organization. In Carolina, Laviolette was a midseason replacement during the 2003-04 season and after the 2004-05 campaign was caboshed due to the NHL Lockout, Laviolette and the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in the 2005-06 season, the first championship in franchise history, coming off two straight seasons of missing the playoffs.

Laviolette then joined Philadelphia, when he led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season behind the bench. After joining the organization midway through the 2009-10 season, Laviolette and the Flyers lost in six games to Chicago, the first time the organization had advanced to the Final since 1997. Then came Nashville, when Laviolette inherited a Predators team that missed the playoffs in 2013 and 2014. He helped guide the team back to the postseason in 2015, before advancing to Round 2 in 2016 and reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, the organization’s first time ever advancing past the second round of the playoffs.

Washington was the only team that did not significantly improve its fortunes under Laviolette. He inherited a team that had qualified for the playoffs in 2020 and again guided them into the postseason in both 2021 and 2022. In all three seasons, Washington lost in the first round. The winning percentage showed improvement, with Laviolette’s team posting a .688 clip in his first season, but the Round 1 defeat was not an advancement.

In New York, Laviolette inherited a Rangers team that was led by current Kings forward Artemi Panarin, that had lost in the first round of the playoffs the season prior. The Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals under Laviolette in his first season, falling to Florida in six games. Panarin had the best offensive season of his NHL career in 2023-24, with Laviolette as the team’s bench boss. Whether or not Panarin was consulted in the process

There’s also a reason why he has coached six teams and why he was available to be hired this summer and perhaps that is part of why the term here is only three years. Laviolette has made immediate changes and impacts everywhere he’s been, but that impact has seemed to fizzle out in later years in previous stops. Therefore, the shorter-term contract seems to make a ton of sense here for the Kings, looking at a three-year contract as opposed to say a five-year contract.

Ultimately, this is a different kind of voice. This isn’t a hire driven by a personal relationship or someone coming from within the organization. Perhaps that is exactly what is needed here. For Laviolette to succeed, the Kings need to make some changes to the way that they are currently built and by the sounds of things, that is part of the plan Ken Holland has this summer. However, adding the coach is an important step and I think they did a pretty good job here of identifying someone who can help make the team better.

More to come throughout the week!