Jim Hiller was fired as coach of the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. He was replaced by associate D.J. Smith.
Hiller, 56, went 93-58-24 in three seasons with the Kings after taking over for Todd McLellan, who was fired on Feb. 2, 2024.
The Kings are 24-21-14 this season, putting them fifth in the Pacific Division and three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
They next host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNW, KTVD, ALT2).
General manager Ken Holland decided to make a change after speaking with team president Luc Robitaille on Friday, one day after the Kings lost 8-1 to the Edmonton Oilers in Los Angeles that followed a 6-4 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
“Couple of tough games going into the Olympic break, and I was hoping that the time off and then the mini training camp, that our team was able to respond,” Holland said in remarks posted on LA Kings Insider. “Tough couple of games coming out, especially the game against Edmonton on Thursday night. On Friday, I did lot of thought. I didn’t do it on Friday because Friday was an off day, the players weren’t here and we played at 4:00 on Saturday (a 2-0 win against the Calgary Flames). I didn’t want just a new coach behind [the bench] and make the move going into a game.”
The Kings rank 26th on the power play (16.3 percent), 28th on the penalty kill (75.7 percent), 29th in goals per game (2.53) and are just 9-13-7 at Crypto.com Arena this season.
Smith was in his second full season as associate coach. The 48-year-old joined the Kings after coaching the Ottawa Senators for five seasons from 2019-23, where he went 131-154-32 in 317 regular-season games before being fired on Dec. 18, 2023.
Player development coach Matt Greene will join Smith as an assistant.
Hiller was retained by the Kings following the 2023-24 season, when he went 21-12-1 as interim coach and helped them qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Los Angeles then went 48-25-9 last season, but it lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round for the fourth consecutive year.
“I want to thank Jim Hiller for his dedication, professionalism, and the commitment he showed to our players and our team every day,” Holland said. “He is a respected coach and person, and we appreciate the work he’s done behind our bench.
“At this point in the season, we believe a change in leadership is necessary to give our group the best opportunity to reach its potential and compete at the level we expect. These decisions are never made lightly, but our responsibility is to position this team for success now and moving forward.”
Hiller is the second coach to be fired this season. Rick Bowness was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets to replace Dean Evason on Jan. 12.