Among the biggest moves that general manager Ken Holland made early this offseason for the Los Angeles Kings was hiring former New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette to replace Jim Hiller behind the bench. But the hiring received mixed reactions from the media and around the league this offseason.
This summer, when Yardbarker gave out its grades for the NHL's head coaching hires earlier this offseason, there was one analysis that stood out for the wrong reasons. Laviolette got a lower grade than former Kings head coach Jim Hiller, which is a ranking that is hard to justify when comparing the two hires side by side.
The most obvious argument against the Toronto Maple Leafs hiring Hiller to be their next head coach this offseason is the fact that he was just fired by Los Angeles after multiple years of first-round exits in the postseason. Hiller never made it past the first round of the playoffs with the Kings during his tenure as head coach.
Why Peter Laviolette was the better fit for the Los Angeles Kings than Jim Hiller
While the Maple Leafs could ultimately prove they made the right decision with Hiller, hiring a coach who had just been dismissed after consecutive first-round playoff exits was always going to bring more uncertainty than hiring someone with Laviolette's resume.
Laviolette has over two decades of NHL head coaching experience, making him the more proven candidate compared to Hiller's resume behind the bench. He's made multiple appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals, including winning a Stanley Cup ring with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
Hands down, Laviolette has one of the most proven and impressive coaching resume in the NHL in this generation of head coaches in the league.
Holland and the Kings weren't just looking for a new voice behind the bench in this new era of the franchise. They wanted someone with a proven track record of playoff experience who could help unlock an offense that had become too stale in recent postseason appearances. Laviolette checked those boxes better than most other available coaching candidates this offseason.
The Kings hiring Laviolette this offseason isn't a guarantee of success in the future, but it was one of the safest coaching hires available. And ranking a recently fired head coach ahead of someone with Laviolette's coaching resume happens to ignore the context of why both teams were making changes behind the bench in the first place.
Laviolette might not be the flashiest coaching hire this summer, but it's difficult to understand why so many voices in the media have viewed the move with so much skepticism. Whether he ultimately succeeds with the Kings remains to be seen, but the franchise hired one of the NHL's most accomplished coaches to address the team's biggest shortcomings. That decision should be credited more than it has been.
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