Report: Kings remove interim tag from Jim Hiller, sign three-year extension

The report would mean that the Kings are the latest NHL club to lock up a bench boss, just one day after the Toronto Maple Leafs officially introduced Craig Berube as their head coach.

The removal of the interim tag would also follow the trend around the league of coaches who were named interim replacements but had the tag removed and were locked up to extensions, including the Vancouver Canucks’ Rick Tocchet and the Minnesota Wild’s John Hynes.

Hiller took over the Kings Feb. 2 when the club fired Todd McLellan. Their record was 23-15-10 with 56 points, but L.A. won only three of their previous 15 games, barely clinging on to a Western Conference Wild Card spot.

Hiller and the Kings would go 21-12-1 in their final 34 games, finishing the season with an 44-27-11 record and 99 points, third in the Pacific Division. They would face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round and be eliminated in five games.

Before joining the Kings as an assistant in 2022-23, Hiller served as an assistant coach for eight seasons with the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. He served under Mike Babcock with the Red Wings and Maple Leafs between 2014-15 and 2018-19.

Before getting behind the bench in the NHL, Hiller spent eight seasons as a head coach in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins and Tri-City Americans. He took the latter to the WHL Championship Finals in 2009-10, losing to the Calgary Hitman 4-1.