Breaking News: Kings Fire Head Coach Jim Hiller

The Kings announced today that they have relieved Jim Hiller of his head coaching duties and have named D.J Smith as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The Kings also announced that Kings development coach Matt Greene will join Smith as an assistant head coach. 

The Kings currently sit 24th in the NHL with a record of 24-21-14. They currently sit outside the playoff picture, and as of March 1st, they are 3 points back of the Seattle Kraken for the final wild card spot in the west. 

Jim Hiller has been with the Kings organization since the 2022-2023 season, serving as an assistant coach for 2 seasons before taking over as head coach in the 2023-2024 season. Hiller, in his 3 seasons with the Kings, made the playoffs twice, both times resulting in 1st-round exits. 

D.J. Smith has been the assistant coach for the Kings for 1 full season, the 2024-2025 season. Before that, he was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators from 2019 to 2023, during which he missed the playoffs in all seasons he coached the Senators. While these statistics may seem underwhelming, the Senators were in the middle of a rebuild. 

Lastly, the Kings' player development coach, Matt Greene, is the new assistant coach. Matt Greene played for the Kings from 2008 to 2017, then retired and became a scout for the Kings from 2018 to 2020. From there, he became the Kings' development coach from 2021 to 2026. With the Kings naming Greene assistant coach, it is his first time behind the bench, but he has been with the organization for nearly 20 years. 

Overall, this decision by the Kings seems to be aimed at sparking the team, as the move to acquire Panarin shows the Kings are in a win-now mindset. Only the future will tell if this was the right move for the Kings.