In a shocking move ahead of All Star weekend festivities kicking off, the Los Angeles Kings have done what has felt like a long-time coming: they fired (in the colloquial sense) Todd McLellan. Jim Hiller, who joined the team in July 2022 as an assistant coach, will serve as interim head coach. This losing streak raised quite a few eyebrows for a team stacked with so much talent.
I’m stuck at the airport in a blizzard and Sarah is sick so more analysis to come soon.
Edit:
In a shocking yet somewhat unsurprising turn, Los Angeles Kings General Manager Rob Blake announced early this morning that they have decided to relieve head coach Todd McLellan of his duties (he’s not technically fired since he’ll stay on the org’s payroll until the end of the year). The Kings have seen massive roster improvements over the years, but their inability to hold a third period lead has left fans feeling perplexed and angry, especially after having such a hot start to the year. At one point, they were tops in the league in goals-scored and were four points out of a playoff spot. Thanks to a lengthy slump that has seen the team go 3-5-2 in their last 10 matches, they’ve gone from second place in the division to fourth, barely clinging to the first wild card spot. Meanwhile, the scorching red-hot Edmonton Oilers have rocketed up the standings, going from basement dwellers in November to third in the division and having won all 16 of their last games.
A team that boasts the likes of Anze Kopitar, Quentin Byfield (who has shown incredible strides in his growth this year), Thousand Oaks Native Trevor Moore (whose stick seems to have a bit of a Midas touch to it), and Philip Danault (based fancy stats god) among others should not be suffering so. Even with their goaltending returning closer to league average, it seems wrong that the Kings are struggling so badly.
Is it something in the room? Perhaps. Is it the system? Maybe. Have the guys tuned out the coach? Impossible to say. But this feels like a crossroads moment for Blake, who needed to decide whether to stay the course or shake things. Last year, he chose to try and weather the storm and this proverbial ship righted itself. However, a major shakeup is probably the only thing that can help the team hit the reset button. They’re still in a good position to make the playoffs, but lengthy losing streaks are now unacceptable for an organization with such high expectations.
Hopefully it pays off.