Todd McLellan Becomes The Next Head Coach Of The L.A. Kings, Hoping To Turn The Franchise Into A Winner

By Jordan Long

The L.A. Kings have a new Head Coach.  Their vacancy was open since they decided to fire John Stevens on November 4th.  At the time the Kings were a disappointing 4-8-1.  The interim Head Coach was Willie Desjardins who guided the Kings to a 27-34-8 record under him.  The Kings ended the season at 31-42-9 for a total of 71 points, worst in the Western Conference.  The Kings decided Desjardins hadn’t done enough to turn the team around and they were going to search for a new Head Coach.

                 The Kings hired Todd McLellan.  His contract is for 5-years, paying him $5 million per season.  This is in hopes of turning the Kings into a playoff team year in and year out.

                 McLellan has the experience to do so.  He has been a Head Coach in the NHL for 11 years.  McLellan was last with the Edmonton Oilers.  He was let go 20 games into this year after a 9-10-1 start.  McLellan owns a career record of 434-282-90 or a winning percentage of .594.

                McLellan’s teams have made the postseason 7 times.  The furthest he has coached a team in the playoffs was in 2011 with the San Jose Sharks.  They went all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being knocked off by the Vancouver Canucks in 5 games.

                The Kings know McLellan has the experience to turn a team into a winner.  He has talent on this team with scorers in Anze Kopitar, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Dustin Brown who will light the lamp for him.  The Kings have a veteran goaltender in Jonathan Quick to help them win night in and night out as long as he is healthy, making McLellan’s job easier.

                McLellan is the right man for the job.  His knowledge of the NHL game should benefit the Kings.  He will make in-game adjustments to his lines which should give the Kings the best shot at winning.  

The only way this move doesn’t work is if McLellan isn’t able to make them a playoff team.  The Kings must be patient for him to rebuild the franchise. It may take a few years for them to make a run at the postseason. McLellan will be able to lead them back to the playoffs and win a series for the first time since 2014.