Kings Should Hire Bruce Cassidy to Be Their Next Head Coach

Since the 2017 offseason, the Los Angeles Kings have remained in a state of rebuilding and reshaping their entire roster. Season after season, the Kings experience difficulty moving past Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some point fingers at management; meanwhile, others look towards the coaching staff and the 1-2-2 system implemented within the organization. However, the reality is that this structure is a mismatch for a talented roster. While the system is created to build a playoff contender, oftentimes, that has not been the case. Let’s take a closer look at the potential of the hiring of former Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy and whether he is the correct fit for the Kings.

Is Hiring Vegas’s Former Coach the Right Choice?

Whether hiring Cassidy is the right move depends on whether the Kings are ready to move on from the 1-2-2 system. In his first season with Vegas, Cassidy led the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup in the 2023 postseason against the Florida Panthers. After multiple consistent playoff appearances with the Golden Knights and Boston Bruins, Cassidy is known to have a reputation for structure, accountability, and discipline.

Considering Cassidy’s recent playoff runs, I’d say he could build the Kings roster to become a physically strong and dangerous team. Furthermore, the Kings could use a coach who isn’t afraid to voice their concerns in the locker room and criticize players when needed. The Kings’ 2026 exit interviews left a sour taste in the fandom as fans and analysts on X blasted general manager Ken Holland and defenseman Cody Ceci for not shouldering responsibility due to the unsatisfactory performance the Kings exhibited against the Colorado Avalanche in a Round 1 exit.

Cassidy Era Ends in Vegas

As of March 29, 2026, the Golden Knights relieved Cassidy of his duties as head coach and replaced him with John Tortorella. The surprise arrived unexpectedly, sending the NHL media into a frenzy as people questioned why Vegas moved on rapidly from a Stanley Cup-winning coach. Many around the league viewed Cassidy as one of the top coaches after leading the Golden Knights to success during his tenure. Blog posts quickly surfaced, suggesting tensions behind the scenes may have contributed to the organization’s decision to move away from Cassidy. Meanwhile, speculation immediately began connecting him to several coaching vacancies across the NHL, including the Kings.

Cassidy addressed the media regarding his thoughts and mentioned, “You grind for 74 games and you wanna be there at the end…But Vegas, they had their standard, they felt they weren’t there, so they made a change.” His comments only fueled more discussion surrounding the Kings, a franchise searching for a coach capable of elevating the team from playoff contender to a dangerous Stanley Cup favorite.

One notable trait of Cassidy’s coaching style is his demanding nature. Coaches like Tortorella, Daryl Sutter, and Joel Quenneville have “old-school” traits that are built on a strong foundation and accountability. For the Kings, that approach could directly address some of their recurring issues in their matchups. His systems tend to tighten a team’s structure quickly, making them harder to play against in the playoffs.

Cassidy could also elevate the Kings’ existing core by pushing higher standards for execution. Players like Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, and Quinton Byfield would be expected to play with more urgency and responsibility shift-to-shift, showing a higher level of consistency, discipline, and commitment in all three zones, especially defensively.

A Cassidy Hire Would Signal Win-Now Mentality in L.A.

Under president Luc Robitaille, the Kings have yet to surpass the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That ongoing frustration has kept the organization searching for the right system to break through in the postseason. Despite registering 90 points in the 2025-26 regular season, Los Angeles has struggled to translate that success into deep playoff runs. The pressure to maximize the current core (and entire roster) has only increased with each early exit.

As a result, the coaching decision looms as a pivotal step in determining whether the Kings can finally take the next leap toward contention and becoming a serious Stanley Cup-winning team. To answer the question, is Cassidy the correct choice to be the Kings’ next head coach? Yes, that is if they are ready to fully commit to a win-now approach and embrace a more demanding, structured system designed for deep playoff success, leaving the 1-2-2 system behind.