The Los Angeles Kings made news on Friday morning when they announced the firing of head coach Todd McLellan.
“This was not an easy decision,” said Kings GM Rob Blake. “We felt the change was necessary at this time.”
Assistant coach Jim Hiller will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season.
McLellan was in his fifth season as Los Angeles’ coach, where he had a record of 141-115-34. He took the team to the post-season in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but were eliminated in the first round each time by the Edmonton Oilers, McLellan’s former team.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk – live from Toronto, Ont., for All-Star Weekend – discuss the Kings’ coaching change, and whether it will be the right decision in the short and long term.
Tyler Yaremchuk: This is a Kings team that started the season looking like a wagon, but they began to hit the skids. Is this a fair reaction in your mind?
Frank Seravalli: I think this is an overreaction, but I think it indicates the kind of pressure the Kings and their front office are feeling after those back-to-back first-round exits. They needed to take a step further this season, and they made a seismic trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois trade last summer which hasn’t worked out.
They made some big bets on their goaltending, and it started out well for Cam Talbot but he’s fallen back to Earth in the last quarter of a season. Then they hit a rut where they suddenly couldn’t score, either, and you’re thinking with all this talent, how is this team going to find a way out of it? I just don’t know if they believed they could with McLellan.
I think in the long run this is going to be a mistake. I think McLellan is a top-five coach in the NHL, but this team needs to turn it around. Missing the playoffs, which they’re on the fringe of now as a Wild Card team, is simply not an option.
You can watch the rest of the segment and the full episode here…
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