Front Office hierarchy?

[aragorn]

So how does the hockey front office generally work? It's easy to see how finding a new coach is handled with the General Manager having control of that, but how does the search for a General Manager get done? Is it mostly on the owner to figure it out? Does someone like the president (in this case Luc) have input? It seems like coaches make the circuit around the league with occasional new blood being thrown in from the assistant coach pool of winning teams, but are General Managers usually just hired from within or do teams go outside the box in their searching? I assume some team General Managers have more carte blanch with the owners checkbook than others but I'm curious how the process works in the NHL.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

Facebook Marketplace?

 

[Statue4Deano]

So how does the hockey front office generally work? It's easy to see how finding a new coach is handled with the General Manager having control of that, but how does the search for a General Manager get done? Is it mostly on the owner to figure it out? Does someone like the president (in this case Luc) have input? It seems like coaches make the circuit around the league with occasional new blood being thrown in from the assistant coach pool of winning teams, but are General Managers usually just hired from within or do teams go outside the box in their searching? I assume some team General Managers have more carte blanch with the owners checkbook than others but I'm curious how the process works in the NHL.

Impossible to say what the actual breakdown is without being inside the offices but from what I can gather it’s basically:

Top: CEO of AEG (formerly Tim Leiweke, now Dan Beckerman) gives Luc his annual marching orders (budget/team expectations/has final say on all money related matters)
2nd tier: Luc is in charge of the Kings operations as a whole with a primary focus on the business side of the team. This includes search for a new GM. This search/hiring will need to be approved by his boss.
3rd tier: GM is responsible for all on the ice operations. From scouting, drafting, development, hiring/firing coaches, scouts; etc. When a GM wants to make any move where payroll will change he has to get approval from Luc/ownership.

As for where the next GM will come from, here’s a good primer.

Potential GM Candidates for LA Kings

mayorsmanor.com

 

[Moog]

Danny B. will confer with Luc.
Danny may have some information to pass on from Uncle Phil to Luc as well.

However this is doubtful, as Phil doesn't seem to care much about the Kings from a fanatics standpoint.
Phil is a football (soccer) fanatic.


Danny B is a $$$ man - first and foremost when it comes to the AEG sports teams. Winning is secondary.
Luc has made quite a few "questionable/poor" decisions as team president.

That is a one-two punch of nervousness from a fan perspective on the selection of the next GM.


....but at least for today fans can be happy that Blake is gone.

 

[DryKing]

Danny B. will confer with Luc.
Danny may have some information to pass on from Uncle Phil to Luc as well.

However this is doubtful, as Phil doesn't seem to care much about the Kings from a fanatics standpoint.
Phil is a football (soccer) fanatic.


Danny B is a $$$ man - first and foremost when it comes to the AEG sports teams. Winning is secondary.
Luc has made quite a few "questionable/poor" decisions as team president.

That is a one-two punch of nervousness from a fan perspective on the selection of the next GM.


....but at least for today fans can be happy that Blake is gone.

You say that, but look at the Galaxy. Why is one franchise so successful as the other stuck in purgatory? Hard to argue that it is the owner, when such drastic differences exist. Reality is it's the people aligned specifically to the Organization, such as Luc.

Luc needs to go with someone brought in to replace him who demands success and accountability (both towards themselves and those below them).

 

[Moog]

You say that, but look at the Galaxy. Why is one franchise so successful as the other stuck in purgatory? Hard to argue that it is the owner, when such drastic differences exist. Reality is it's the people aligned specifically to the Organization, such as Luc.

Luc needs to go with someone brought in to replace him who demands success and accountability (both towards themselves and those below them).

(Other than the current Galaxy season---oof! - See injuries, MLS roster rules, coach concerns, etc)

Galaxy won MLS Cup last season....their sixth.
Prior to that, they were in "purgatory"
Former president of the Galaxy Chris Klein was a Luc "clone" - and Luc is a "clone" of Chris Klein.

They are both former players, with little to zero FO experience who wormed their way up to president.
They both established a good old boys network of hiring former players and friends.

Both hired bad GM's, managers, coaches, and made poor roster decisions galore.

Galaxy fans had enough. Two years ago supporters groups and players boycotted the club for months.

Danny B. finally relented and fired Chris Klein and Jovan Kirovski.
Danny B. became team president and made Will Kuntz GM.
Turned the club around in one year from purgatory to champions.


I'm not saying that could happen with the Kings.
Highly doubt Kings fans would boycott their team.

However, it just proves that within AEG it can be done.
AEG can rid itself of its good old boys network at the Kings the same way they did at Galaxy.

 

[DryKing]

(Other than the current Galaxy season---oof! - See injuries, MLS roster rules, coach concerns, etc)

Galaxy won MLS Cup last season....their sixth.
Prior to that, they were in "purgatory"
Former president of the Galaxy Chris Klein was a Luc "clone" - and Luc is a "clone" of Chris Klein.

They are both former players, with little to zero FO experience who wormed their way up to president.
They both established a good old boys network of hiring former players and friends.

Both hired bad GM's, managers, coaches, and made poor roster decisions galore.

Galaxy fans had enough. Two years ago supporters groups and players boycotted the club for months.

Danny B. finally relented and fired Chris Klein and Jovan Kirovski.
Danny B. became team president and made Will Kuntz GM.
Turned the club around in one year from purgatory to champions.


I'm not saying that could happen with the Kings.
Highly doubt Kings fans would boycott their team.

However, it just proves that within AEG it can be done.
AEG can rid itself of its good old boys network at the Kings the same way they did at Galaxy.

That's a lot of good info and you clearly know much more about it than I do. I was just mainly pointing to the fact that the Galaxy have won more Championships than any other MLS team/franchise (and one recently).

What you wrote makes a lot of sense and underlines the need to replace Luc.

I agree with you, though, that the Kings fans/supporters likely will not boycott. Galaxy has it a bit harder as LAFC is a closer location for most LA fans, brought in some big names and won the championship in 2022. On the flip side, the Ducks have been anything but successful, as of late, and aren't putting a lot of pressure on the Kings to retain fans (though their tv deal, in terms of general access, is much better).

Maybe we need the Ducks to get competitive in order for the Kings Organization to start focusing on winning (and not just profit).

 

[SirJW]

That's a lot of good info and you clearly know much more about it than I do. I was just mainly pointing to the fact that the Galaxy have won more Championships than any other MLS team/franchise (and one recently).

What you wrote makes a lot of sense and underlines the need to replace Luc.

I agree with you, though, that the Kings fans/supporters likely will not boycott. Galaxy has it a bit harder as LAFC is a closer location for most LA fans, brought in some big names and won the championship in 2022. On the flip side, the Ducks have been anything but successful, as of late, and aren't putting a lot of pressure on the Kings to retain fans (though their tv deal, in terms of general access, is much better).

Maybe we need the Ducks to get competitive in order for the Kings Organization to start focusing on winning (and not just profit).

One good point about the Ducks pushing the Kings, is they ignored local ice rinks until the Ducks started investing in rinks all over OC and Lakewood.