The Los Angeles Kings have held preliminary discussions with Peter Laviolette about their head coaching position, league sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
Laviolette has spoken with "a couple of teams," LeBrun added.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks are the league's other coaching vacancies.
The Kings fired head coach Jim Hiller in March and replaced him with D.J. Smith on an interim basis. Smith went 11-6-6 in 23 games behind the bench before the Colorado Avalanche swept Los Angeles in Round 1 of the playoffs. General manager Ken Holland said earlier in May that Smith was a candidate to be the team's full-time head coach.
L.A. has also attempted to interview former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy, but Vegas has yet to grant teams permission to speak with him. The Oilers have also been denied the opportunity to interview Cassidy.
Laviolette was fired by the New York Rangers after an 85-point season in 2024-25. He didn't coach last year.
The 61-year-old is seventh on the NHL's all-time wins list with 846 career victories. He won a Stanley Cup with the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes and also made Cup Final appearances with the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2017 Nashville Predators. Laviolette led the Rangers to a Presidents' Trophy with a franchise record 114 points in 2023-24.
