NHL Notebook: Kings likely to retain Rob Blake and Jim Hiller after playoff loss to Oilers

This marked Blake’s eighth season as general manager in Los Angeles, and the Kings have yet to break through beyond the first round. Known as a Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame player, Blake transitioned into the team’s front office in 2014 and took the reins as GM in 2017, stepping into the role previously held by Dean Lombardi.

Lombardi guided the Kings to their first-ever Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014, and then Blake was tasked with reshaping the roster around cornerstone veterans Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. After missing the playoffs three consecutive seasons from 2019 to 2021, the Kings aggressively reloaded their talent pool, securing an impressive 14 selections in the first three rounds of the draft over that period, signalling a new era for the franchise.

The Kings landed Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke with top picks and found quality players like Alex Laferriere and Jordan Spence with later selections. Blake has also been aggressive in augmenting the roster through trade and free agency, adding veterans with playoff experience such as Phillip Danault, Warren Foegele, Vladislav Gavrikov, Joel Edmundson, and Darcy Kuemper.

Former San Jose Sharks and Oilers head coach Todd McLellan was hired in 2019 to guide the Kings through their rebuild. He helped Los Angeles back into the playoffs in 2021-22 and lost to his former club in seven games. McLellan led the Kings to a five-point improvement in 2022-23, but they again came up short against the Oilers, this time losing in six games.

Jim Hiller joined McLellan’s staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2022-23 season and took over as head coach in 2023-24 after the Kings got out to a 23-15-10 start. The Kings went 21-12-1 the rest of the way with Hiller as head coach and then bowed out to the Oilers in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

In Hiller’s first full season as head coach in 2024-25, he led the Kings to a 48-25-9 record, with their 105 points matching a franchise record that had been set in 1974-75. Los Angeles was the home team for the first time in four consecutive playoff meetings with Edmonton and they even got out to a 2-0 series lead, but the Oilers stormed back with four straight wins to take the series in six.

Hiller faced criticism for some of his decisions during the team’s loss to the Oilers, but mostly for his resistance to making adjustments throughout the series.

In Game 3, the Oilers tied the score at 4-4 in the third period, and Hiller chose to challenge the play for goaltender interference. The goal unsurprisingly stood, the Kings were charged with a two-minute penalty for delay of game, and the Oilers took the lead shortly after.

Los Angeles looked dominant in their wins at home in Games 1 and 2, and then they blew third-period leads in both Games 3 and 4 in Edmonton. As the series went along, the difference in depth between the two teams became noticeable. The Oilers found their stride and the Kings struggled to keep up, thanks in part to a heavy reliance on nine forwards and four defenders.

What’s next for the Kings? Kopitar will be 38 years old when the 2025-26 season begins, while Doughty turns 36 in December. There isn’t time for another rebuild while those two franchise legends are still playing, so we could see a similar version of the Kings next season.

News and notes from around the NHL…

• The Dallas Stars completed a come-from-behind victory at home in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Colorado had a 2-0 lead early in the third period, but two goals from Mikko Rantanen tied the score late in the game. Wyatt Johnston put the Stars ahead with four minutes left to play and Rantanen completed the hat-trick against his former team with an empty-net goal. With the win, Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer became the first North American major sports head coach or manager (NHL, NBA, MLB) in history to win nine Game 7 contests.
• The final first-round series to be decided this year is between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues. The winner of Game 7 on Sunday in Winnipeg will move on to face the Stars in the second round. The Jets will be without centre Mark Scheifele for the deciding game in this series. He was injured in the team’s Game 5 win and was sidelined during their loss in Game 6.