A few weeks ago, the Kings acquired one of the best offensive players in the NHL, ushering in version 2.0 of this season’s LA Kings. By relieving Jim Hiller of his duties earlier today, we may now be on LAK v3.
In advance of hosting the visiting Avalanche tomorrow — beginning Game 1 of the new era, with just 23 contests remaining of their 82-game regular season schedule — the Kings held practice on Sunday, as scheduled. However, associate coach D.J. Smith handled the media responsibilities after conducting on-ice drills. He’s been appointed as interim head coach for the remainder of this season. Over the summer, GM Ken Holland and LA management folks will assess what to do moving forward. For now, it’s full steam ahead on a much hoped for playoff push.
Joining Smith on the bench will be two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Greene, who had been serving as one of the team’s player development coaches. He’s been bumped up to an assistant coach.
Both Holland and Smith answered questions and shared a myriad of thoughts this afternoon. Below are several key takeaways from those conversations, held at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.
Please note: selected commentary has been slightly edited and/or paraphrased for reading purposes.
The Playoff Push Is Still Alive
Holland made one thing clear: this move was made because the Kings are still in the race, not because they’ve given up on it. Los Angeles sits three points out of a wild-card spot with 23 games remaining — and a schedule that includes several head-to-head matchups against the teams they’re chasing. They’re also only four points out of third place in the Pacific Division with two games in hand on Edmonton.
“Well, the good news is we’re three points out of a playoff spot,” Holland remarked. “Some of those teams that are fighting for the playoff spot, we’re going to play some of them. We have two games with Nashville, a couple of games with Utah, and a game with Seattle. So we control our own fate.”
He also acknowledged waiting as long as he could, but with the Kings unable to string together any sustained success — just one three-game winning streak and one four-game winning streak all season— it felt like the last opportunity to make a change.
“We’ve hung around the race,” said Holland. “If you look at our division, first place is only eight points ahead of us. Now, eight points is a lot of points, over the [remaining] games. But I didn’t like two games heading into the break. I didn’t like the two games coming out of the break. And time’s running out.”
Finding Their Swagger
If there was one word that defined Smith’s introductory press conference, it was swagger. He used it repeatedly, and it was clear he views the root of the Kings inconsistency as a confidence problem — not a talent problem.
“We have to start feeling better about ourselves,” he emphatically stated. “For whatever reason, we just haven’t had that feeling this year. We’ve tried different things, but we just haven’t had that swagger. And it’s a short runway to get it done.”
Smith was also rather direct when speaking about individual accountability, even as he emphasized building the group’s confidence back up.
“Guys have to start to believe a little bit. Guys have to start feeling good about themselves. Some guys have underperformed, and I think they have to take responsibility in that. Ultimately the coach pays the price, but there’s some guys that have to play better. My job is to put them in those spots to play better and get them feeling better about themselves.”
With the league-leading Avalanche visiting Crypto.com Arena tomorrow night, Smith used that word again.
“We’re going to have to push back. We have to make them play some defense. We just have to go and play the game and see what happens. We had a 30-minute practice today, so tomorrow we’re not going to change much. We’re just going to go and play. But we’re going to build some swagger here day to day.”
Last Year’s Playoff Loss Still Lingers
Perhaps the most striking moment of Smith’s availability came when asked whether the group has been able to fully move beyond last year’s playoff collapse vs. the Oilers.
His answer was blunt.
“I’d say no,” shared Smith. “I think that particular loss somehow carried on to this season. And it ends now. Unfortunately, the way we lost, you could feel it dragging the group down. Maybe we didn’t believe in ourselves enough, but it’s over. That has ended.”
He went on to frame Sunday’s coaching change as a hard reset.
“Today is a brand-new, fresh start, and we have to look at it that way. We have a number of guys on [last year’s] team that aren’t here. We have a number of guys that are getting opportunities because of injuries. It’s time to build a brand-new group right now. It’s not a big window, it’s not a long runway, but we have guys that are capable.”
Panarin and the Offensive Identity
With Panarin now in the fold and the Kings ranking near the bottom of the league in goals scored, Smith was asked whether the team’s traditional defensive identity needs to shift.
“You have to create more offense,” said Smith, with a sense of excitement more than any form of concern. “You can’t give up more. Every team that wins can play defense. If you look at all the teams that win the Stanley Cup, they can all defend — but they also score.”
He explained the coaching staff won’t treat every forward the same when it comes to defensive expectations, with Panarin being a prime example.
“I’d be lying if I said I coached every player the same. I expect certain players to forecheck a certain way, whereas the Breadman has to be able to make some plays. He’s going to turn some over, but that means it becomes more important for the defenseman to cover him on a night-to-night basis — to give him that freedom to make some plays.”
The power play will also get a fresh look. Smith said the unit needs a clearer identity, pointing to how the league’s best man-advantage teams succeed.
“When you look at the best power plays in the league — be it Edmonton, Vegas, Dallas — what they do is they retrieve pucks better than anyone. When they miss, they get the puck back and they outwork the penalty killers night after night. Our identity on the power play needs to be something along those lines, and we’ll talk as a group to create that very quickly.”
Matt Greene Joins the Bench
The addition of Greene as an assistant coach carries weight in Los Angeles. A former alternate captain who spent nine seasons with the Kings and won two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, Greene has been with the organization since his retirement in 2017, as a scout and then in player development. This will be his first time behind an NHL bench.
Smith said Greene’s presence brings something the group needs right now.
“One, he’s won. Two, his demeanor, he means business. He’s going to be a fresh voice for some guys.”
He added: “What he’s going to bring is some confidence, and some professionalism, and seriousness to the matter that this team needs to get playing better.”
Greene’s familiarity with the roster will make the transition seamless, particularly his work with defenseman Brandt Clarke through the player development pipeline.
“It’s not new to me, because I dealt with Greenie a lot with Clarke. He’s a big reason for Clarke’s development. He’s done a really nice job with him, and he has a relationship with him.”
As far as what the new coaching responsibilities are, Greene will handle the defense and work alongside Derek Johnson on the penalty kill, while Newell Brown will oversee the power play in collaboration with Smith.
A video of his full media scrum can be viewed below:
Lead photo by ALoImages
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