Laviolette, 61, joins the Kings as the seventh-winningest coach in NHL history with an all-time record of 846-562-186 (.531 PTS %) spanning 23 seasons between the New York Islanders (2001-03), Carolina Hurricanes (2003-09), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-2014), Nashville Predators (2014-20), Washington Capitals (2020-23) and New York Rangers (2023-25). His 846 regular-season wins behind the bench are the seventh-most in League history while his 1,594 games coached are the ninth-most, which both rank first and second among U.S.-born coaches, respectively.

Leading Carolina to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2006, Laviolette has guided 14 different teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs while accumulating an all-time postseason record of 88-82 in 170 games, the ninth-most playoff games coached behind the bench. Laviolette is joined by Scotty Bowman, Dick Irvin and Mike Keenan as the only four coaches in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final with three different franchises having also done so with Philadelphia (2010) and Nashville (2017). He is also one of four coaches to win five consecutive Game 7’s in Stanley Cup Playoff history.

A native of Franklin, Mass., Laviolette has coached his teams to the 50-win plateau three times and the 100-point mark in eight different seasons, including the 2017-18 campaign where he led the Predators to a franchise-best 117 points with 53 wins (53-18-11) to earn his first President’s Trophy as a head coach. His second came in 2023-24 after guiding the Rangers to 55 wins, the most in a single season of his coaching career, with 114 points. Over the course of his coaching career, Laviolette has been named a Jack Adams Finalist twice (2006, 2015) and an NHL All-Star Coach on four occasions (2011, 2015, 2018, 2024).

Prior to entering the NHL coaching ranks, Laviolette served as head coach for the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) in 1997-98. He then spent two seasons (1998-00) as the head coach of the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), capturing the 1999 Calder Cup Championship and earning AHL Coach of the Year honors in his first season after coaching the Bruins to an AHL-best 56-16-4-4 following their 19-49-7-5 record the year prior to his arrival. Laviolette was promoted to an assistant for Boston in 2000-01.

Internationally, Laviolette has served on several coaching staffs for the United States, including the 2014 Olympic Games, three IIHF World Championships (2004 – bronze, 2005, 2014) and one World Cup of Hockey (2005). As a player, he appeared in 12 career NHL games with the New York Rangers in 1988-89 and has played in parts of 11 seasons of minor professional hockey between the AHL and International Hockey League (IHL).

Housley, 62, joins the Kings organization with over a decade of coaching experience at the NHL level having most recently served as an assistant coach for the New York Rangers under Peter Laviolette for two seasons (2023-25). Prior to that, Housley was an assistant coach with the Arizona Coyotes for three seasons (2019-22) and previously served as head coach for the Buffalo Sabres (2017-19).

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015, Housley began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Nashville Predators for four seasons (2013-17), also working under Laviolette during that time, where he helped guide the Predators to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history in 2017. While with Nashville, the team led the league in goals by defensemen two of his four years behind the bench (2014-16) and finished in the top-two each of his four seasons.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Housley has coached Team USA in six International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments, including three IIHF Men’s World Junior Championships (2007 – bronze, 2011 – bronze, 2013 – gold) and three IIHF Men’s World Championships (2011, 2013 – bronze, 2014).

As a player, Housley was drafted sixth overall by Buffalo in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft and is a veteran of 1,495 career NHL games across parts of 21 seasons between the Sabres (1982-90), Winnipeg Jets (1990-93), St. Louis Blues (1993-94), Calgary Flames (1994-96, 1998-01), New Jersey Devils (1995-96), Washington Capitals (1996-98), Chicago Blackhawks (2001-03) and Toronto Maple Leafs (2002-03). Over his playing career, Housley amassed 338 goals and 1,232 points (338-894=1,232), both of which are the fourth-most among all defensemen in NHL history, while earning NHL All-Star honors seven times (1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000). Internationally, Housley won gold at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in addition to his three medals as a coach. He is also a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame (Class of 2004) and IIHF Hall of Fame (Class of 2012).

Hajt, 47, joins Laviolette’s coaching staff after completing his ninth season (2015-17, 2019-26) with the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, where he most recently served as an associate coach. During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns, Hajt was as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Phil Housley‘s staff, who now serves as the Kings’ associate coach.

He also spent one season as an assistant coach with the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) in 2014-15, where he was part of the 2015 Calder Cup Championship team. With Ontario, Hajt helped the Reign qualify for the playoffs on six occasions (2015, 2016, 2022-26), including two division titles (2016, 2026), and Western Conference Finals appearance (2016).

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native was also a part of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Guelph Storm from 2008-14 as an assistant coach for six seasons and as the team’s assistant general manager for one, where he helped lead the Storm to the 2014 OHL Championship and a second-place finish in the 2014 Memorial Cup.

As a player, Hajt skated in 582 career professional games across six leagues, including six games with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals. The former blueliner appeared in 477 AHL games with Hamilton, Portland, and Lowell and had stints in the ECHL, DEL, Liiga, and Serie A.

Whitney, 54, joins the NHL coaching ranks with more than two decades of NHL experience as a player, having played in 1,330 career regular-season games over 22 seasons with the San Jose Sharks (1991-97), Edmonton Oilers (1997-98), Florida Panthers (1997-01), Columbus Blue Jackets (2000-03), Detroit Red Wings (2003-04), Carolina Hurricanes (2005-10), Phoenix Coyotes (2010-12) and Dallas Stars (2012-14).

Selected 23rd overall by San Jose in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, Whitney was the second player ever drafted by the Sharks in franchise history. Among all NHL skaters who played during his 22-year career, Whitney ranked fifth in games played (1,330) and 12th in both assists (679) and points (1,064). He is one of 42 forwards in league history to have at least 1,000 points while appearing in 1,300 or more games.

Whitney also totaled 21 goals and 53 points (21-32=53) in 108 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests. His postseason success is highlighted by his 15-point performance (9-6=15) during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping Carolina capture their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history under head coach Peter Laviolette.

A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Whitney represented Team Canada in four IIHF Men’s World Championships (1998, 1999, 2002, 2010). He also served as an assistant general manager for Canada at the 2023 Spengler Cup. Following his playing career, Whitney spent three seasons (2015-18) as a pro scout for Carolina before coaching his son, Hudson, on the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes 15U, 16U and 18U teams.

Mike Buckley is in his fourth season with the Kings after being named goaltending coach on June 9, 2023.

Buckley joined the Kings coaching staff after spending eight seasons (2013-21) with the Pittsburgh Penguins as goaltending development coach (2013-17) and head goaltending coach (2017-21). During his time in Pittsburgh, the organization's goaltenders received accolades at both the NHL and AHL level, including two Stanley Cups (2016, 2017), two NHL All-Star Games (2020, 2022), three All-Rookie Teams (NHL - 2017, AHL - 2015, 2017), three Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Awards as the AHL team with the lowest regular-season goals-against-average (2014, 2015, 2017), one Aldedge "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as AHL Goaltender of the Year (2015), and one Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as AHL Rookie of the Year (2015).

In his first season with the Kings, the team’s goaltending tandem ranked third and fifth, respectively, in goals-against average (GAA) and save percentage (SV%) while Cam Talbot earned his second career NHL All-Star nod. The following season, Buckley was named to goaltending coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament and coached Darcy Kuemper to his first Vezina Trophy Finalist nod. Most recently, Buckley served as the goaltending coach for the gold-medal winning Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina.

The first U.S.-born goaltending coach to win multiple Stanley Cups, Buckley also brings nearly eight seasons of collegiate coaching experience to his role, having spent three seasons (2012-13, 2015-17) as goaltending coach for the University of New Hampshire (H-East) and five seasons (2007-12) with his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (H-East).

In addition to his work with teams, Buckley currently sits as President and Head Instructor at Goaltending Development Services, Inc. in North Andover, Mass., where he trains NHL, AHL, collegiate, junior, high school, prep and youth hockey goaltenders throughout the season and summer months.

A native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Buckley skated four years (1995-2000) of collegiate hockey at UMass-Amherst before playing five seasons (2000-05) of professional hockey, including three campaigns with the Mississippi Sea Wolves and Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL.

Derik Johnson enters his fourth season as an assistant coach and eighth with the Kings organization, having previously served as a skills coach and assistant video coach after joining the team in 2018. Prior to his time with the Kings, Johnson served as a video coach for the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2017-18 season where he helped the Condors achieve a 31-27-10 record.

Johnson played collegiate hockey as a defenseman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (NCAA), tallying 17 points (2-15=17) in 108 games over four seasons. In 2011-12, despite playing only 11 games, Johnson tallied five points (1-4=5), good for 0.45 points-per-game, the second-highest PPG among all freshman skaters behind only forward Caleb Herbert (41 GP, 14-19=33). Johnson helped Minnesota-Duluth to two NCAA tournament appearances in 2011 and 2015. 

He went on to play professionally in the ECHL from 2014-17, tallying 29 points (8-21=29) in 129 appearances between the Missouri Mavericks and Reading Royals. In 2015-16, he made his AHL debut, skating in four games with the Springfield Falcons, before returning to Reading for one more season in 2016-17, where he was one of only four skaters on the team to play in at least 70 games and established career-highs in goals (7), assists (12) and points (19).

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Derik is the son of former NHL defenseman Jim Johnson, who also served as an NHL assistant coach and played hockey at The University of Minnesota-Duluth for four seasons as well.