INSIDER: Good First Day for Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith

For D.J. Smith, the first part of moving forward is extinguishing the past.

And I’m not talking about the first 59 games of this season, which need their own form of being extinguished. Rsther, it's about the footing that hasn't been established because of what happened prior. For the Kings, it’s about more than that. This team hasn’t been able to find its way this season, likely for a number of reasons. One, in Smith’s words, is because they’re still clinging to the last.

The Kings lost a devastating series against the Edmonton Oilers last spring. It was the best team that this version of the Kings have brought to the dance. They led the series 2-0 and led in Games 3 and 4. That’s not new information. 

What is, though, is an acknowledgement that the loss last season has continued to drag this group down, perhaps even until this day. The first part of moving forward is acknowledge it. Only then can you ditch the past. That is step one, as Smith assumes Head Coaching duties in Los Angeles. 

“That particular loss, the way we lost, somehow carried on to this season and it ends now,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, the way we lost, you could feel it. You could feel it dragging the group down. Maybe we didn't believe in ourselves. It’s over. That’s ended. Today is a brand new, fresh start and we’ve got to look at it that way."

Now, D.J. Smith is not a new face for the who spoke with him this morning, whether than be the players, coaches, broadcasters or members of the assembled media. 

Smith joined the organization in 2024, as an assistant coach, joining Jim Hiller’s staff as a part of larger changes within the coaching staff. He was promoted to associate coach beginning last season and he’s been here ever since.

So, while today’s news is obviously a massive shakeup, as it is when any Head Coach is relieved of his duties, Smith is not a new member of the conversation. Just a familiar face in a new role. In itself, that carries something. 

As he addressed the locker room this morning, Smith spoke of a clean slate. He spoke about energy and work. He delivered his message with an upbeat tone, an energetic tone, but a tone intertwined with some truths that everyone knew but also needed to hear.

Forward Adrian Kempe said this morning that, right now, the Kings are going into games hoping they would win them, not confident that they would win them. Especially at home. Confident teams don't do that. Last season's Kings team did not do that. That’s a problem, as Kempe acknowledged. It’s one that he is keen to change and believes that Smith can help him change. 
 
Step one is to restore what was once there. 

This was once a team with confidence. A team with swagger. A team with mojo. A team that had through the roof vibes last season, that seem to have taken an elevator to the basement this season. 

So, step one is to get back on that elevator and start ascending. 

“Our guys have to take confidence in that we're a good enough team,” Smith said. “We're a good team. We've got good players, we've got good young players and we’ve got to start feeling better about ourselves. For whatever reason, we just haven't had that feeling this year. We've tried different things, but we just haven't had that swagger……guys have got to start to believe a little bit and guys have got to start feeling good about themselves. Some guys have underperformed and I think they’ve got to take responsibility in that. Ultimately, the coach pays the price, but there's some guys that have got to play better and my job is to put them in those spots to play better and get them feeling better about themselves.”

To suggest that today’s changes will overhaul what we’ve seen for nearly 60 games would not be reasonable. Ken Holland said that he expects Smith to make a “couple of tweaks” to the way the Kings play, but I think we all understand the timeframe he’s working with, Smith himself chief among that group. Tomorrow’s game versus Colorado isn’t going to look all that different, but as the team practices again Wednesday and Friday, around games against New York and Montreal, hopefully some of that change starts to appear. 

Should be added that Smith was a part of what the Kings were already doing and he was the first to acknowledge that. Didn’t deflect responsibility from his own part in the start to the season, which is unsurprising after reading reports about how he approached the job when he was the Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators. From the top down, it has to be better over the final 23 games than they were over the first 59 and he knows that. 

“When a coach is fired, he takes the ultimate bullet for everybody, but in order for the coach to be fired, a number of people underperform, whether it be myself as an assistant coach, the other coaches, a defenseman here, a forward there, there's a lot of people that didn't do good enough, where they feel as an organization that you have to change the coach to try and shake something up,” he said. “If you're a real leader, you take that on you and you don't point the finger and kick the rock down the road. You say, I’ve got to be better, and it would start with the leadership right on down to the coaching staff.”

I found Smith’s first press conference in the role to be direct, accountable and proactive. 

And it needed to be. But it’s also just a press conference. The next name on the schedule is Colorado and with that comes the NHL’s best team. Following that game are two against current playoff teams in the Eastern Conference in New York and Montreal, before a five-game roadtrip. So, it’s not the smallest of mountains to climb to back up a good start.

However, what Smith also did not do was set unrealistic expectations. He understands where things are at, the lack of consistency until this point and the fact that he’s had one practice to implement anything he wants to implement before the league's best team rolls into town. So, what can he control?

The mentality is “the first order of business” as he said. 

From there, it’s about the play on the ice. 

I once had a coach tell me that there are two things that you can control every time you hit the ice – your effort and your attitude. Smith didn’t reference that phrase, but he said that his expectation is to outwork the opposition. He understands it won’t happen every night, he acknowledged it's something every team says, but it’s a problem if the Kings get outworked. 

“I'm a very, very positive guy, different maybe on the bench is my communication and how I’m going to be vocal,” Smith said. “I expect us to outwork the other team every single night and everyone says that, it's hard to out-work because the whole league works, but I expect us to. It should be noticeable some nights. You're not going to do it every night, but you should be on par, and then it should be noticeable some nights, that we work that much harder than the other team, especially in our building.”

Both Smith and Kempe acknowledged the team's play at home, as they sit 30th in the NHL with 9 wins on home ice this season. The Kings have 11 games left on home ice and need to make the most of those, certainly, in order to improve.

In terms of the X’s and O’s, there's so much that he touched on. 

Smith touched on a defensive game that has slipped, not just over the last four games but, in his eyes, since Christmas, especially as it pertains to preventing odd-man rushes, many of the self-inflicted variety. 

He spoke about how yes, the Kings have to defend better but they can’t just sit back at the expense of scoring goals. Good teams do both and the Kings have to strike a balance they have yet to find. 

He spoke about how his style is to let players like Artemi Panarin play their game, to make plays offensively, and how when a player like that is on the ice, the team’s defensemen need to provide him with a safety net to allow him to flourish. For the players who are not Panarin, his expectations are different. If you're a forechecker, forecheck. If you're a physical player, be physical. If you can shoot the puck, shoot the puck. As he said, he'd be lying if he coached every player the same, because every player brings unique traits to the table. 

He spoke about a power play that currently lacks an identity, correctly identifying that the best power plays in the league excel at retrieving the puck, which allows you to reset and reload against increasingly tired penalty killers. There’s a reason every Edmonton power play feels three minutes long. 

He highlighted several young players and their impact on the team, his trust in them and what sounded like a willingness to play them more than they’ve been played before, worrying less about situational usage and pulling guys out of certain moments. 

D.J. Smith said a lot of good things, without overpromising what we all know might not come true. He didn’t guarantee the playoffs, though he certainly stated his intended goal, which is to qualify. It's the expectation, even though it is not a certainty. 

His first day at the helm brought with it the energy you'd like to see. The positivity that's needed during a challenging time. A renewed spark, for a flame that felt close to burnt out. The Kings may be what they are. They may not find a way to get things on track. There are only 23 games left and the Kings have a lot of work to do. If the team buys into Smith and what he's preaching, it'll at least feel like you can count on one thing, which is that the work will be done. From there, the cards will fall where they may. It's possible too much damage has already been done, but it's time for this group to forget about what was and do what could be. 

For those interested, I would highly recommend listening to D.J. Smith's full availability. I thought it was actually very insightful on a number of areas, in further detail than I could pack into 1,800 words. I'll be honest, it caught me by surprise how good I felt it was. Interested to know your thoughts as well.