Kings Hire Phil Housley, Ray Whitney To Coaching Staff

The Los Angeles Kings have hired two former pros to their coaching staff. Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley, and 22-year pro Ray Whitney, will both join the Kings’ bench as assistant coaches per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. These moves are coupled with news that Newell Brown won’t return to his role with Los Angeles. Brown spent the last two years on the Kings bench, continuing a run of Western Conference coaching roles that dates back to the 1996-97 season.

Los Angeles will bring in an instrumental bit of defense experience as their blue line goes through its biggest flux in years. Cornerstone defender Drew Doughty seems set to hand off top-defenseman duties to up-and-comer Brandt Clarke next season, after Clarke reached 40 points in the 2025-26 campaign. Now, that growth will be coupled by the guide of a veteran of 1,495 NHL games.

Housley was a force to be reckoned with in his playing career. He surpassed 20 goals on five occasions, and 70 points on six occasions, while playing through a career that reached from the heights of the 1980’s to the dead puck era of the 2000’s. Housley was a consistent presence for Team USA internationally and led his blue lines to an Olympic Silver Medal and World Cup Gold Medal. He has been inducted into the Buffalo Sabres’, IIHF, and USA Hockey Hall of Fames in addition to his full Hockey Hall of Fame induction in 2016. Housley began coaching Minnesota High School hockey in 2004, then graduated to an NHL assistant role with the Nashville Predators in 2013. He has since served roles in Buffalo, Arizona, and New York – including one season as head coach of the Sabres.

Whitney will also bring a wealth of experience to the Kings’ bench. He played through a career that began with a second-round selection in 1991 and ended with 1,330 games played across 22 seasons in the NHL. Whitney was a dynamic and energetic force through the 2000’s and 2010’s. He filled key, top-six roles with six different clubs – including the Carolina Hurricanes, who he played with from 2005 to 2010. Routinely rivaling point-per-game scoring in Carolina, Whitney became a focal point of the Hurricanes’ club that  won the 2006 Stanley Cup, while scoring 15 points in 24 playoff games during the run.

Whitney closed his NHL career with 385 goals and 1,064 points. His scoring came on the back of powerful skating, a hard shot, and a keen ability to outsmart opponents while crashing into the zone. Following his retirement, Whitney briefly joined the Hurricanes as a pro scout from 2015 to 2018. He hasn’t served in an NHL role ever since, instead supporting the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes AAA club through much of the 2020’s. Now, Whitney will move to the state next door, and begin his pro coaching career on the Kings bench. Whitney should bring plenty of expertise for the Kings’ new-look offense, led by Artemi Panarin and without Anze Kopitar, to take in.

Housley and Whitney will join Peter Laviolette in his first season overseeing the Kings bench. Laviolette was hired in place of Jim Hiller, who the Kings fired in March. Assistant coach D.J. Smith briefly served as interim head coach and was part of interviews during the off-season, but ultimately moved on to the Edmonton Oilers as an associate coach. Smith and Brown departing from the Kings’ bench created two vacancies now filled by decades of NHL experience.