According to reports, Los Angeles Kings' interim coach for the 2025-26 season, D.J. Smith, has been named to Team Canada's coaching staff for the 2026 World Championship.
Los Angeles Kings interim bench boss for this past season, D.J. Smith, has been named an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2026 World Championship tournament, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.
Smith joins Canada's staff, along with Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, and Calgary Flames bench boss Ryan Huska. Team Canada's head coach for the 2026 and 2027 World Championships, and the next World Junior Championship, is Misha Donskov.
This will be the third World Championship tournament Smith has featured for Canada as an assistant coach. He was also on the bench for the 2022 and 2023 tournaments, back when he was coaching the Ottawa Senators.
In 2022, Canada lost to host-nation Finland and took home silver. But in 2023, Smith and the rest of the staff led Canada to a gold medal, defeating Germany 5-2 in the final.
In the NHL, Smith has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Kings' organization. He was introduced to Los Angeles in the middle of the 2023-24 campaign as an assistant coach, then held the title of associate coach for the next two years.
Then, on March 1 from this past season, he was named Los Angeles' interim head coach, replacing the dismissed Jim Hiller. Since becoming the acting head coach of the Kings, he has put up an 11-6-6 record in 23 regular-season contests.
He helped surge the Kings into the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they were swept by the mighty Colorado Avalanche and eliminated on Sunday.
With Los Angeles' season being over for almost a week, there hasn't been any news on Smith's status with the Kings. He'll either need to be given the full-time position as the team's head coach, step back down as an associate, or explore opportunities elsewhere.
In total, Smith has spent parts of six years as an NHL head coach. He's stood behind the bench for 340 games in his career, registering a 142-160-38 record along the way.
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