It’s been two weeks since the Kings announced the hiring of new head coach Peter Laviolette, and while there has been no shortage of news around the league since then, the management team in LA has continued to prepare for the busiest time of the offseason, an upcoming week which includes the NHL Draft, Development Camp and free agency.
Now that the team’s bench boss is in place, it’s a good time to look back at his previous results, which have come with six different NHL clubs. Most recently, Laviolette’s last two stops were in New York and Washington with the Rangers and Capitals.
To learn more about each of those stints, reporters from each market joined The Insider Show this week, including Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic in New York and Tarik El-Bashir from Monumental Sports Network in DC. Each sheds light on what went right and wrong during Laviolette’s tenure in their respective cities.
Mercogliano is a Senior Writer for The Athletic and has been primarily covering the Rangers for the past seven years after previously reporting for Lohud.com and USA Today. He was along for the ride during both of Laviolette’s campaigns in New York, including one that earned a President’s Trophy in 2023-24 and another that fell flat during 2024-25.
El-Bashir is also a longtime beat reporter, covering the Capitals for multiple outlets before joining the team’s network in 2023. He was also part of The Athletic during Laviolette’s three-year run in DC, which began with a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign that saw the Caps go 36-15-5 before another impressive 2021-22 regular season that led to a mark of 44-26-12. Ultimately, Laviolette’s time in Washington came to an end after an injury-plagued 2022-23 season that saw the team miss the postseason.
Below are a few excerpts from the two conversations, which can be watched and listened to in full on the Kings’ YouTube channel as well as all major podcast networks on our LA Kings Insider Audio feed.
Mercogliano on Laviolette’s success in New York
There’s no denying that his first season in New York was a huge success. They won the President’s Trophy. You look at his track record, and it seems like pretty much wherever he goes, that first year after he arrives, there’s a jolt. I know for Rangers players, in talking to a lot of them during that 2023-24 season, I believe most points in a single season in franchise history, and go on that run to the Eastern Conference Finals. Players were refreshed by having him there. It seemed like everything he touched turned to gold that season. Whether it was the systematic changes, the direct form of communication, I remember talking to a lot of players about that, where they felt like they always kind of knew where they stood with Laviolette, and they seemed to appreciate that.
Mercogliano on how Laviolette managed the lineup in his first year
For Panarin, that was his most productive year with New York, that first season under Laviolette. He found this chemistry on that line with him, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière. The year prior, under Gerard Gallant, the Rangers were constantly juggling their lines, and I know that frustrated some players. They felt like there was no continuity. And then Laviolette came here and things started pretty well and went well all season, so I guess when you’re in that position, it’s easy not to mess with the lineup a whole lot, but I know the players really appreciated that. They felt like there was a level of consistency, not only with the communication, but in terms of their spots in the lineup; guys were able to be in these set roles and then run with it pretty much throughout the entire season.
Mercogliano on what it was like working with Laviolette as a media member
He was very professional. I think he’s a guy that’s been doing this a long time and knows how to play the game. I do think there were certain times where you could feel that he was a little more guarded about topics, but I do feel like he knew what we needed to do our jobs properly and if he could tell you were working on a specific story or wanted something to use on a specific guy, he would definitely open the vault a little bit and give you some information and stuff you could work with. I’ve definitely worked with coaches who were more guarded than him. I would kind of grade him somewhere in the middle on that spectrum of being very open and honest vs. being very guarded.
El-Bashir and his overall recollections of Laviolette’s time in Washington
I really liked him. I’ve covered this team for two-plus decades, all of Alex Ovechkin’s career, I’ve seen a lot of coaches come and go, and I really enjoyed Peter. He plays his cards very close to the vest because he doesn’t want to give any competitive advantage to the other side. Everyone inside the room knows what’s going on; everyone outside is left guessing. He’ll drop some one-liners in press conferences that are quite funny. He’s been around a long time; you don’t get to 7th all-time in wins and taking three organizations to the Stanley Cup Final without being very detailed and good at what you do. I would say his time in DC, it’s kind of that perverbial Lavy-bump, or whatever you call it. That first year, he gets a lot out of teams. That’s by design, and I think you can expect that in Los Angeles. I talked to him after he parted ways with the Capitals, and he told me that his biggest regret was not getting the job done in the playoffs. They had two really good regular seasons his first two years, and they kind of flamed out in the first round, very disappointing for everyone, and then that third year was off the rails in terms of how injured everyone was. If I remember correctly, that team was fourth in man games lost, John Carlson took a puck to the head midway through the year and missed most of the second half, and by that point, it was kind of curtains for the Caps. Laviolette asked for his release there when he could tell things weren’t going the way he wanted after that third year because he wanted to get a head start on finding that next job.
El-Bashir on Laviolette’s relationship with the team’s top players in DC
One thing that Lavy does really well is he gets everyone to buy in, and the reason he gets everyone to buy in is he treats everyone the same. Whether you’re Alex Ovechkin or you’re the fourth-line guy who is just trying to stay in the lineup, everyone is held to the same standard, the same level of accountability, and I feel like that just kind of gets everyone on the same page. It makes everyone feel like they’re part of it. Everyone’s pulling on the rope, everyone has a role, you might make 10 million dollars and you’re Alex Ovechkin, but I’m the part-time fourth-line left winger, and I’m going to give it my best tonight to help us get two points, and I think that really resonates with guys in the room. He can handle big stars; he has before, but he does a really good job of keeping everyone part of it. Here in DC, he was brought in because they had a veteran-laden group, and they needed to take that next step. I see a lot of similarities with him being brought to DC and him coming in to LA. There are still some really good key veteran players that he’s going to have to extract a little more from. One thing about Peter is he knows where players’ buttons are, and he knows when to press them, and that’s something you develop over the course of a very long career. I think that’s going to go really well there in LA.
El-Bashir on Laviolette’s offensive-style systems
The Kings under Laviolette will not be boring. You’re not going to feel like you’re watching grass grow or paint dry. They’re still going to defend like heck. He doesn’t play a Bruce Boudreau system where you’re trying to win every game 6-5. He does have defensive structure. That said, the offensive players are really going to enjoy playing for Peter because they’re in constant motion. You’re going to see it on the first day of training camp, where he sets the bar really high for conditioning. He really demands a lot and really skates them a lot. Offense is a big part of Lavy’s system, and another thing you’ll see is that he really wants his defense to be activated. You’re going to see guys coming down the wall, you’re going to see guys taking risks to keep the puck in the offensive zone way more than you did in recent years for the Kings. Is that going to leave Kuemper and company a little exposed? Sure, but I feel like his philosophy is taking a risk to get more offensive chances is more important than just playing safe all the time. So a guy like Brandt Clarke, he’s going to probably put up 70 points next year, you’re going to see a big step for him points-wise because he’s going to be turned loose and they’re going to encourage him to expand his game. Even guys on the back end who don’t have a lot of offense in their game are going to have some really good years because that’s something that his system demands. Panarin, Kempe, Fiala, Byfield, they’re all going to have really good offensive years under him because offense is a big part of his game.
The Insider Show – Vince Mercogliano + Tarik El-Bashir
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