The Los Angeles Kings have fired embattled coach Jim Hiller during his second full season, the team announced Sunday, making a move behind the bench in a last-ditch attempt to turn around a disappointing year. The Kings snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday, but still sit three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Assistant coach D.J. Smith will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The final straw for Hiller was an 8-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, their worst defeat of the season, which followed a blown third-period lead to a Golden Knights club resting several top performers. Disenchanted fans at Crypto.com Arena held up “Fire Hiller” signs and engaged in similar chants.
“I want to thank Jim Hiller for his dedication, professionalism, and the commitment he showed to our players and our team every day. He is a respected coach and person, and we appreciate the work he’s done behind our bench,” Kings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. “At this point in the season, we believe a change in leadership is necessary to give our group the best opportunity to reach its potential and compete at the level we expect.”
When asked about concerns over his job security after the brutal performance against Edmonton, Hiller said his focus was on getting the Kings to beat the Flames on Saturday. He also pushed back at the notion that his messaging was no longer being received within L.A.’s dressing room.
“We signed up for this job,” Hiller said. “I think you’re probably always concerned when you get a job in the coaching world, so that’s just something that’s always tucked away. But what overrides all of that is trying to get your team to win games.”
In his first NHL head-coaching job after 10 years as an assistant with multiple teams, Hiller went 93-58-24 with the Kings and coached them in two playoff series. He took over for Todd McLellan on an interim basis in February 2024 and coached the Kings to a 21-12-1 record to end that season. The Kings took the interim tag off in May 2024, and Hiller coached L.A. to a 48-25-9 record and franchise-best 105 points last season.
Smith, 48, came to the Kings when Hiller replaced McLellan. His previous NHL head-coaching experience was a potential fallback if Hiller himself was moved out. Smith and Hiller worked together with the Toronto Maple Leafs before the Ottawa Senators hired Smith on May 23, 2019. The Senators went 131-154-32 without a playoff appearance in Smith’s four-plus seasons guiding the club. He was let go 26 games into the 2023-24 season.
Hiller was kept on this season by Holland despite heavy criticism for his decision-making and roster management last spring, when Los Angeles let a 2-0 first-round series lead over the Oilers get away as the Kings dropped the final four games. The Kings lost for the fourth consecutive postseason to the Oilers, who eventually advanced to their second straight Stanley Cup Final.
In early December, Holland told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun there was “zero truth” to reports of a possible coaching change despite rumblings that Pete DeBoer was a potential target. Hiller managed to survive rough stretches and insisted that the Kings had it in them to put together a lengthy winning streak, but his club won only nine times over a 29-game span. The Kings managed to stay in a playoff race only because of their ability to get games into overtime and scrape out single points. Their 15 victories within 60 minutes of play were among the lowest in the NHL.
The 56-year-old Hiller had guided the Kings to a 24-21-14 record this season. The Kings, never known for having a high-octane offense, faltered badly on that side of the puck under Hiller this season. And their tried-and-true method of stout defense and goaltending was completely abandoned following the Olympic break.
Hiller’s deployment of his few difference-makers also came under scrutiny. Talented defenseman Brandt Clarke, one of only two true puck-movers on their blue line, didn’t get a significant boost in his ice time until Drew Doughty was sidelined with a foot injury.
Top scorer Adrian Kempe spent a large chunk of time earlier in the season playing the point on a five-forward power play instead of being a focal point for one-time shots from the right circle. Hiller also routinely changed his forward lines between games and within them in a futile search for a sustainable offensive spark. Holland made a major acquisition Feb. 4 in obtaining star point producer Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers, but the potential jolt was negated when Kevin Fiala suffered leg fractures while playing for Switzerland during the Olympics that ended his NHL regular season.
Already in a precarious position to keep their streak of playoff appearances going, the Kings are battered beyond losing the services of Fiala. Winger Andrei Kuzmenko underwent surgery Friday to repair a meniscus tear. The Kings also didn’t have Doughty or forward Joel Armia, who both played in the Olympics, for Saturday’s win over the Flames. Both are considered day-to-day.