Peter Laviolette An Emerging Option In Kings Coaching Search

The Los Angeles Kings are sparring with the Toronto Maple Leafs on the coaching market and yet another candidate has popped up on both teams’ radar. Former New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette is believed to be one of three candidates in Los Angeles’ coaching search per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Friedman names the other candidates as Jay Woodcroft and interim head coach D.J. Smith. It was revealed on Wednesday that Laviolette also interviewed with the Maple Leafs.

Laviolette took the 2025-26 season off from coaching after being dismissed from a two-year tenure with the New York Rangers after the 2024-25 season. He had split results behind the Rangers bench, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals after a 55-win season in 2024 but then failing to reach 40 wins or the postseason in 2025. He was much more of a postseason mainstay earlier on in his career – appearing in the playoffs in 13 of the 21 NHL seasons he’s helmed.

Better than a strong record of playoff appearances, Laviolette proved an ability to take multiple teams deep into summer hockey. Having already won an AHL Calder Cup championship, his career began with back-to-back first-round exits with the New York Islanders in 2002 and 2003. He flipped to a middling Carolina Hurricanes club partway through the 2003-04 season and quickly found a way to bring the best out of the club’s stars. On the other side of the 2004-05 lockout, Carolina blazed to an incredible 2006 Stanley Cup championship, built on the back of a more-than 40-point improvement from Rod Brind’Amour and tremendous performances from rookie Cam Ward and sophomore Eric Staal.

The stars continued to shine through the next two seasons but Carolian couldn’t repeat their run to the playoffs in 2007 or 2008. They dismissed Laviolette partway through the 2008-09 season. One year later, he was back on an NHL bench, and back to driving towards the Stanley Cup Finals – this time with a veteran-heavy Philadelphia Flyers lineup. Laviolette’s Flyers lost the 2009 Stanley Cup championship but managed to return to the second-round in 2011 and 2012. After another mid-season replacement in 2013-14, Laviolette flipped to the Nashville Predators – who he again drove to an unsuccessful Stanley Cup Finals in 2017 after a pair of postseason bids ended early. With no hardware to match five postseason runs in five seasons, Nashville replaced Laviolette in 2020 – paving the way for subsequent two-year stints with the Washington Capitals and Rangers.

Los Angeles may now try to revive Laviolette’s playoff instincts after his longest time away from the league since the 2004-05 lockout. The Kings have reached, and lost, the first round in each of the last five postseasons. That success has come through tenures with three different coaches – Todd McLellan, Jim Hiller, and D.J. Smith. The Kings have proven an ability to win ground in a weak Pacific Division but clearly lack the jump to get over the first hurdle. Next season, they will also lack a pillar of their lineup, after Anze Kopitar announced his retirement. Quinton Byfield will face the challenge of filling the lineup hole, while a tenured voice like Laviolette’s could be perfect to make up the locker room’s veteran presence.

Los Angeles reached the postseason by just four points. Next season could bring an even tighter margin, as the San Jose Sharks continue to improve. That competition could make Laviolette’s Stanley Cup-experience the difference-maker against Woodcroft and Smith. Friedman added that Laviolette’s desire to coach stuck through the 2025-26 season.