Report: Kings, Laviolette hire Ray Whitney as assistant coach
The Los Angeles Kings made a massive organizational shift this summer, moving on from interim head coach D.J. Smith to hire veteran head coach Peter Laviolette, who will guide the club away from a slower-paced, defense-first style that Jim Hiller had implemented in the prior seasons toward a more up-tempo game.
That has been the formula for Laviolette throughout his career, including in 2005-06, when he led the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history powered by speed and strong goalscoring.
Now, as Laviolette builds out his staff in Southern California, it looks like it will include a familiar face from that Hurricanes team. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Laviolette is expected to hire long-time NHL winger Ray Whitney to join him behind the bench as an assistant coach.
Sounds like Ray Whitney is diving into coaching. Expect Whitney to join Peter Laviolette’s staff in LA as an assistant.
Over a 22-year NHL career, Whitney posted 385 goals and 679 assists for 1,064 points in 1,330 career regular season games. When he won the Cup with Laviolette in 2006, Whitney primarily skated on Carolina’s second line with Rod Brind’Amour and Justin Williams, racking up 55 points in 63 regular season contests and 15 points in 24 postseason games.
Whitney, an Alberta native who began his career with the San Jose Sharks in 1991-92, will now make the jump into the coaching profession after a storied NHL career.
Both Whitney and Laviolette saw the only Cup of their respective careers come in 2006, and now they will work together in a bid to bring one to Los Angeles.
The Kings have been a mainstay in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far this decade, but they have yet to make it out of the first round, dropping four consecutive first-round series to the Edmonton Oilers from 2022 to 2025 before getting swept in the first round this postseason by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
Laviolette’s first season at the helm will also be the first year Los Angeles will be without captain Anze Kopitar, who retired after the 2026 campaign. General manager Stan Bowman is in the midst of overhauling the roster in a bid to get it better suited to score goals when it matters most, an aspect of the game that has plagued the Kings at times in their playoff defeats.