Ken Holland, who won four Stanley Cups while serving in the front office of the Detroit Red Wings, has taken on a new team.
Holland has accepted the general manager’s job with the Los Angeles Kings, the Free Press has learned. Holland takes the position six years after leaving the Wings following a nearly four-decade career with the organization.
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Since departing in May 2019, Holland, 69, spent five years as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers – where he came within one victory of the Stanley Cup – and one year in the NHL’s Operations Department as a consultant.
The Los Angeles job reunites Holland with Kings president Luc Robitaille, who was part of the 2002 championship team put together by Holland in the 2001 offseason, when he added Robitaille, Dominik Hasek and Brett Hull to an already star-studded Wings roster.
Ken Holland speaks with media prior to his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame at the Hockey Hall Of Fame on Nov. 12, 2021 in Toronto.
Holland was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021.
His latest challenge in the hockey world puts him in charge of a team that has lost four straight years in the first round of the playoffs to Holland’s former team, the Oilers. The Kings boast a superstar defenseman, albeit an aging one (at 35) in Drew Doughty, who won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, and the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2016. Forwards Kevin Fiala are Adrian Kempe are 30-goal scorers, and Anze Kopitar routinely rates as one of the best two-way forwards in the game.
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On the younger side of the equation, 22-year-old forward Quinton Byfield, the No. 2 pick in 2020, has put together back-to-back 20-goal seasons.
By far, Holland’s career has been defined by his time in Detroit. After two seasons in the organization as a goaltender, he started scouting in 1985, segued into five years as the team’s director of amateur scouting (1989-94) and three years as assistant general manager (1994-97) before being named general manager in 1997, after the Wings won the Stanley Cup. During his time as general manager, the Wings won three Stanley Cups and four Presidents’ trophies, won more regular season games (925) than any other team and ranked second in playoff victories (119), trailing only the Washington Capitals by one game.
He stepped back in April 2018 to make room for Yzerman being named GM of the Wings, initially slated to serve as a consultant. But that lasted about two weeks, and he departed for the Oilers in early May. In 2024, Holland’s last year with the team, the Oilers lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
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Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Red Wings GM Ken Holland accepts L.A. Kings GM job