Los Angeles Kings Fire Coach Todd McLellan: What Led to This?

The Los Angeles Kings named Jim Hiller interim head coach for the rest of the season after relieving Todd McLellan of his duties on Friday.

The Los Angeles Kings decided to make a coaching change during the NHL all-star break.

Kings GM-VP Rob Blake announced the team relieved coach Todd McLellan of his duties and named Jim Hiller interim coach for the remainder of the season. 

Los Angeles went 16-4-3 in its first 23 games, which had the club ranked fourth in the NHL on Dec. 7. Since then, the Kings went 7-11-7, the fourth-worst record of any team during that span, and they fell to 14th in the NHL and the first Western Conference wild card.

McLellan, 56, "has done a tremendous job in moving us forward and making a positive impact on our group and in our community," Blake said in a team statement. "This was not an easy decision, but we felt the change was necessary at this time."

Hiller, 54, has been an assistant coach for the Kings since last season. Before that, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the New York Islanders, and he spent another four seasons before that as an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He started his NHL assistant coaching career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2014-15. Although it's on an interim basis, this is his first time with head coaching duties in the NHL.

"Jim is a well-respected member of our staff who is familiar with our players," Blake said. "We are confident in his ability to lead our team effectively during this pivotal time."

Here's more analysis from Adam Proteau – who predicted this exact change would happen days ago.

McLellan’s departure was an inevitability with the way the Kings have been playing of late. He’s known for being meticulous in his approach with players, and for one reason or another, his message was getting lost in the cacophony of losses the Kings have recently struggled. Firing him at the all-star break allows Hiller to draw up his own game plan, and Hiller now has the rest of the season to have the 'Interim' coach tag removed.

Los Angeles’ struggles have put them in a battle just for a playoff berth. Blake may make a roster movie or two before the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline, but for the most part, all the tools are there for Hiller to turn the Kings’ ship around. McLellan, meanwhile, will very likely get another coaching opportunity down the line. He’s an NHL lifer, and one team will come calling on him.

With that said, being a fired coach completes the NHL circle of life for that profession. The shelf life of coaches is getting shorter and shorter with every passing year, and unless a team is thriving or at least showing signs of life, job security for bench bosses is becoming an anomaly.

The Kings now have it on them as players to prove to Blake that they’re worth continuing to believe in. They’ve taken steps forward competitively under McLellan, but their lack of playoff success was one strike against him, and the other two strikes were L.A.’s losing skid. You have to be consistently solid, and in the end, the Kings were nowhere near solid enough to save McLellan’s job. 

If things don't change for the better, Blake is going to be at a crossroads of sorts. But for now, at least, Hiller has the reins in L.A., and the good news for him is he’s got approximately half a season to show Blake he was right in getting his first head coaching job in hockey’s top league.