Laviolette is expected to get a three-year contract. He returns to the NHL after being fired by the Rangers in April 2025

The Los Angeles Kings announced Tuesday that Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the team.

Laviolette, 61, is expected to receive a three-year deal, and this will be the seventh team he has coached. 

He will be the permanent replacement for interim coach D.J. Smith, who took over in March after Jim Hiller was fired. The Kings fired Hiller shortly after the Olympic break. The Kings were 11-6-6 under Smith, but the team was swept out of the first-round playoffs. 

Laviolette didn’t coach last season after he was fired by the New York Rangers following two seasons with the team. Kings General Manager Ken Holland acquired Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin last winter, whom Laviolette had coached in New York. 

Laviolette has also led the New York Islanders, Carolina, Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington. 

He has coached 1,594 games, which ranks in the top ten of all time. Laviolette also won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006. His 846 regular-season wins behind the bench are the seventh-most in League history. 

Laviolette will lead the Kings following five straight first-round playoff exits. Los Angeles finished 29th in goals last season with 220, one of the fewest among the playoff teams. The team still hasn’t won a playoff round since raising the Stanley Cup in 2014.

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Laviolette is known for making aggressive offensive attacks, potentially representing an organizational shift for the team, who have long emphasized a defense-first philosophy. This will be Laviolette’s first West Coast NHL job. Â