The Los Angeles Kings have been mired in a tailspin in their past 14 games, and they currently are out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Is it time to change the coach?
The Los Angeles Kings are in a rut right now, and they must get out of it quickly.
They're on a five-game losing streak, and they've gone 4-6-4 in their past 14 games. That has put L.A. in 10th place in the Western Conference, three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the West's final wild-card spot.
Thursday night's 8-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers put the focus on coach Jim Hiller's future. Fans even started a "Fire Hiller" chant.
"I think you're probably always concerned when you've got a job in the coaching world, so that's just something that's always tucked away," Hiller told reporters after the loss. "But what overrides all that is trying to get your team to win games."
With one week until the NHL's March 6 trade deadline, Kings GM Ken Holland needs to make a major move or two to push his team into a playoff position and give captain Anze Kopitar a fitting send-off before he retires.
The first move Holland should make is a coaching change. Hiller hasn't been able to pull his team out of a tailspin, and Holland can't afford to take weeks to decide whether a change there is necessary.
If Holland does change coaches right now, he's got the option of hiring veteran bench boss Peter DeBoer to turn things around. DeBoer has been on the market since the Dallas Stars fired him at the end of last season, but he could come into the Kings organization and give them the structure, confidence and overall new-coach bump they need to go on a lengthy win streak.
The next move is some sort of notable trade to replace what star left winger Kevin Fiala brings to the table.
Fiala suffered a season-ending injury in the Olympics. While it will be difficult for Holland to acquire a difference-maker on Fiala's level, there will be veteran players available on the trade front who can move the needle for L.A.
The Kings have about $13.3 million in salary cap space – a total that rises to $15.6 million if he waits until the trade deadline to use it.
With the acquisition of star left winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers, Holland has already shown he's ready, willing and able to take a big swing on the trade market. So would it really be all that surprising if Holland steps up and acquires someone on the level of Nashville Predators right winger Steven Stamkos? We don't think so.
And whether it's Stamkos or another experienced hand is there for the taking, Holland needs to do whatever he can to outbid other suitors and come up with a big fish.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman linked New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck to the Kings, and that would certainly work. He could not only make up some of the offense without Fiala, and he could be a reliable center for the Kings beyond this season without Kopitar.
With a trade acquisition and a new coach, the Kings could claw their way back into a playoff position and do some damage in the post-season once they get there. Putting up a stronger fight to pull out of their current tailspin is something Kopitar deserves, and L.A. can't use Fiala's injury as an excuse to miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2020-21.
There's too much talent on this Kings team to settle for something less than Kopitar should get in his final year, and the whole point of parting with previous GM Rob Blake and bringing in Holland was to win playoff rounds.
The Kings have failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since they won a Stanley Cup in 2013-14, so the status quo can't be an option for Holland. He needs to take action on multiple fronts to shock his group back into a post-season spot. And if he can do that, there's no reason why the Kings can't emerge as a threat to go on a long playoff run.
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