Entering 3rd season, will work under new GM Holland
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Jim Hiller will return as coach of the Los Angeles Kings, new general manager Ken Holland said Thursday.
Hiller, 56, met with Holland on Wednesday after admitting he was uncertain about his future after then-GM Rob Blake left the Kings on May 5. Los Angeles was eliminated from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth consecutive season, this time after going 48-25-9 and finishing second in the Pacific Division.
“Jim’s going to be the coach,” Holland said. “Jim Hiller did a fabulous job in leading the team to 105 points.”
This is Hiller’s first job as an NHL head coach. He’s 69-37-10 in 116 regular-season games over two seasons and 3-8 in the playoffs since replacing Todd McLellan on Feb. 2, 2024.
“I thought three weeks ago that this was a team that had the potential, the ability to go on a long playoff run,” Holland said. “He’ll be a better coach next year for the experience he went through this year. I think each year that goes by, I’m a better manager than I was the year before, because I think when you coach and when you manage and you play, experience is a good thing. It’s not a bad thing.”
Holland was given a multiyear contract on Wednesday. He was previously GM of the Oilers for five seasons until that deal expired July 1, 2024. Edmonton qualified for the playoffs in every season of his tenure.
“I’m excited because it’s a really good hockey team,” he said. “I’m excited to be back in the saddle. I’ve got a lot of energy. I had an opportunity this past winter to get my batteries [recharged].
“I’m going to use that same mentality that we did in Detroit, that I did in Edmonton. You have to peck away a day at a time, a meeting at a time, a move at a time, to try to move this team up. … We want to win some playoff series, but I don’t want to screw it up. This is a good hockey team that I thought three weeks ago when I looked around the League, that was one of the teams that I thought they could go to the final four and beyond.”
Kings president Luc Robitaille said he spoke with numerous candidates, with Holland quickly emerging as the top choice. Prior to joining the Oilers, Holland was GM of the Detroit Red Wings for 21 seasons. The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup three times (1998, 2002, 2008), the Presidents’ Trophy four times and the 2009 Western Conference championship before losing the Stanley Cup Final in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Detroit won 10 division championships and five regular-season conference titles, and had at least 100 points 14 times, the most in the NHL during that span. It also won the Cup in 1997, when Holland was assistant GM.
“It was very important to get the right person to guide this franchise to where we want to be, which is not about beating one team, winning one round. It’s about winning four rounds,” Robitaille said. “When Ken was available, we talked about the philosophy of the team and where this franchise wants to be. It became clear to me that the best person was Ken. He knows the path of what it takes to get to the championship. That’s a hard thing to do and it’s a hard thing to learn. His experience, what he’s done over his career is very important. It’s very important at this time for this franchise that we get to that next level.”
Holland was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder with the Class of 2020. With 1,145 wins as a GM, he ranks fifth in NHL history behind David Poile (1,533), Lou Lamoriello (1,479), Glen Sather (1,319) and Harry Sinden (1,170). The Oilers team he helped build is in the Western Conference Final for the third time in four seasons following series wins against the Kings (six games) and Vegas Golden Knights (five games) and is one season removed from a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Cup Final.
“When I reflect back on the growth of the Detroit Red Wings when I was there,” Holland said, “and then I reflect back on the building of the Edmonton Oilers and where they are today … you’ve just got to stick with it and find a way to win a series. Every time you can get a little more confidence from accomplishing something, it builds you going forward. There are no magic wands or tricks. I watched it in Detroit, and I watched it in Edmonton, and certainly that’s what we hope to accomplish here.”
