Team makes announcement on new Kings coach

The new Kings coach is going to be John Stevens.

It is being reported that the Kings plan on naming associate head coach John Stevens as their new head coach.  Stevens has been with the Kings since 2010 as an assistant and served as interim head coach in 2011.

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Stevens remained on the staff after Sutter’s hiring. He was part of the coaching staff when the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

He has previous head coaching experience starting in the American Hockey League. First with the Philadelphia Phantoms and getting a chance to coach the Flyers from 2007-2010.

The last few seasons when other NHL teams have tried to interview Stevens the Kings have refused to allow him while still under contract, they went as far as to elevate him from assistant to associate coach seemingly anointing him as Sutter’s successor.

Now the Kings are tasked with rounding out Stevens staff as the other assistant Davis Payne was also let go by the club.

Perhaps the Kings hired Stevens to create a sense of continuity. He also has a reputation of being able to work with younger prospects.

Something he will have to do as the Kings try to integrate some youth from their farm system.

Also, when Stevens first joined the Kings staff he worked with Drew Doughty helping him refine his skills to fit the Kings defensive system, and all Doughty did since then was help the team win 2 Cups and Doughty is now a perennial candidate for the best defensman award in the NHL.

However, some might criticize the Kings for not looking outside of the organization.

Finally, speculation that the Kings players tuned out Sutter at the end. This means Stevens is going to have set out a new message in order for the players to by in on his coaching tenure.