Three NHL Assistant Coaches Who Could Make The Cut In Kings' Search For New Bench Boss

The Los Angeles Kings are searching for a head coach, according to GM Ken Holland. While D.J. Smith is a candidate for the job after filling in as the interim coach of the Kings from March 1 to the end of the season, there's a good chance Holland will look for new blood.

There is a selection of head coaches that are available for hire, and some great veteran bench bosses at that. But what if the organization wants to go a different route and hire someone who isn't a household name?

Sometimes, teams will look to bring in an assistant coach from another, relatively successful team, and that could be the case here with Los Angeles.

Here are three NHL assistant coaches who could wind up being the Kings' head coach for the 2026-27 campaign.

For Jay Woodcroft he's actually a well-known coach in the NHL, especially in the Kings community, as he was the bench boss of the Edmonton Oilers. 

He led the Oilers from behind the bench for just one full regular-season campaign, and two stints in the post-season, none of which were Edmonton's back-to-back Stanley Cup final appearances.

Therefore, Woodcroft does have experience in running a team behind the bench, even if it wasn't a lengthy period.

In his one full regular season, he helped the Oilers register a 50-23-9 record, accumulating 109 points in the standings, finishing two points off Pacific Division winners, the Vegas Golden Knights.

In the playoffs, Woodcroft took the Oilers as far as a Western Conference final sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

This season, he joined the Anaheim Ducks' coaching staff as an assistant coach to Joel Quenneville. In Anaheim, his duties are with the offense and power play.

An offense-minded coach could be the shakeup the Kings need after sitting back and playing defensive hockey for several years to this point.

Todd Nelson is coming off his first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach to Jack Adams Trophy finalist Dan Muse.

Muse doesn't become the coach with one of the most impressive campaigns of this NHL season without a competent coaching staff around him, and Nelson has a say in that.

In terms of other NHL experience, Nelson's most recent role was as an assistant with the Dallas Stars for four seasons from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Dallas made a Stanley Cup final appearance in that span.

Nelson has also spent many years as a head coach in the AHL, including stints with the Hershey Bears, Grand Rapids Griffins, and the Oklahoma City Barons. 

Furthermore, in the last 10 years, Nelson has won three Calder Cups as the champion of the American League. Others who have won the Calder Cup and gone on to be respectable NHL coaches include Jared Bednar, Jon Cooper, Sheldon Keefe and Ryan Warsofsky.

Neil Graham has spent the past eight years in the Stars organization, most of which in the head coaching role with the AHL's Texas Stars.

In his final three seasons as Texas' coach, they've made the American League post-season. The team's best campaign came in his last year when the AHL Stars advanced to the third round of the playoffs.

Following that tenure in the minors, Graham then became a prime candidate to become the head coach of Dallas, following the sacking of Peter DeBoer in the aftermath of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Graham was considered a finalist for the job, but the Stars organization decided to go with Glen Gulutzan, who used to be the Stars' head coach back in the early 2010s.

Nonetheless, since Graham was close to landing the job with Dallas, he could very well be a name that Holland is keeping a close eye on as the next head coach of the Kings.

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