Hiller has 'mixed emotions' reflecting on season

Head coach Jim Hiller also met the media on Monday, in what was a busy day for the LA Kings. Hiller noted the “mixed emotions” that came with the end of a season that saw a strong regular season, but a disappointing end in the playoffs.

“For the players who I believe gave so much this year, trusted one another, and competed hard for one another. That’s where my biggest feelings of disappointment are.”

The days and weeks ahead will be interesting for Hiller. With Rob Blake no longer the general manager, his future could be a little uncertain.

“I haven’t had any of those conversations yet,” said Hiller. “I understand whenever there’s change like that, significant change, there’s usually more.”

“I’m proceeding like I’m the head coach,” he added. “At some point, I will talk to Luc (Robitaille), I assume it’s Luc who’s going to do a search for a GM and hire a GM, and then at some point, I would assume I’ll be speaking with him. Status quo for me.”

In his first year as LA Kings head coach, Hiller guided LA to a league-best 31-6-4 home record, en route to second in the Pacific Division and the opportunity to host the first-round playoff series against Edmonton. In the end, the result was the same as the prior three years: an early May locker cleanout.

Despite the regular season success, Hiller is left to reflect on a crushing playoff loss in a series where his team was up two games to none and had leads in the third periods of games three and four.

“It was a hard series,” he said. “You can always look back and say maybe we could have done this or could have done that….in the end, you make decisions in the moment with the information you have. It didn’t turn out for us.”

Hiller was asked about Quinton Byfield’s failed clearing attempt in Game 4 as the turning point but he pointed out that there were others, including Kevin Fiala’s late game post, the empty nets in Game 1. “There’s a number of them, I can’t point to one specifically,” he said. “But (Game 4) not being able to close that one out is the biggest moment in the series.”

Byfield was one of the players Hiller was asked about specifically during media availability. He noted that he had a “couple of thoughts” on things Byfield could do to improve his game. But ultimately, Byfield has “established himself as an NHL player and I think he’s answered those questions (about whether or not he’s a center).”

“I still think there’s lots there,” Hiller added. We have to understand he’s just a young player and we got a lot out of him, but he’s got room to grow as a player in a lot of different areas, but he’s going to do it. He’ll be a leader for the franchise for a long time.”

The depth of the LA Kings was supposed to be their strength, but Hiller did note the key players Edmonton had returned from injuries in the series. “They got to add (Trent) Frederic and (Evander) Kane back into their lineup,” he said. “There’s no question those two made a difference. They had a good series, I believe.”

There were three big criticisms of Hiller in the postseason: the lack of trust in his depth players, the Game 3 challenge, and their approach when holding a lead. He addressed each of those on Monday.

“Every opponent has different strengths and weaknesses,” Hiller noted as he explained his rationale for his lineup decisions in the first round. “(Edmonton) had certain strengths that we were wary of. Had we played a different opponent, it might have been different.”

“In hindsight, it’s a pretty easy evaluation,” said Hiller about the challenge. “Obviously, in the moment, it’s more difficult. We were disappointed with the way it went. We’d have liked to come out and kill the penalty thereafter.”

Hiller declined to elaborate on what exactly they were challenging.

“No, no,” said Hiller when asked if he felt his team was sitting back in the third period too much. “If you look back through the season, I think the third period was one of our strengths. I think what sometimes people fail to do is give the other team credit.”

As Hiller said, “We didn’t get it done, they did,” and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. For now, Hiller is the head coach of the LA Kings. Whether that’s the case at the start of the 2025-26 season remains to be seen.

Main Photo Credit: Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register