The Kings will bring Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley aboard to join the recently hired Peter Laviolette’s coaching staff for next season.
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SoCal News Group confirmed the pending hire independently after it was first reported by The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein.
Housley was the sixth overall pick in the 1982 draft, taken by the Buffalo Sabres after establishing himself as the gold standard among Minnesota high school defensemen. He went on to play for eight franchises in all, also winning gold at the epic 1996 World Cup of Hockey and silver in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
“He was a great player, so everything that he says, you listen. More than that, he’s just a great guy. Outside of the rink, he cares a lot about his players,” said Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm while he played under Housley in Nashville. “He’s not a guy who will scream and yell at you, but he’ll come with advice on what to do and how to be more successful out there.”
Housley came back to Buffalo for his only head coaching gig in the NHL, but has been a frequent confidant of Laviolette’s. He was an assistant under Laviolette with the Predators and then his associate head coach with the New York Rangers from 2023-25. They reached the Stanley Cup Final in the Music City and won the Presidents’ Trophy on Broadway.
Housley had also returned to his roots as a player early in his coaching career, first with high school hockey in Minnesota and then working with U.S. players at the junior level, capturing gold at the World Junior Championships in 2013 and bronze in 2011.
San Jose Sharks defenseman Nick Leddy, another Minnesotan, was on the 2011 team. He said his work with Housley had a profound impact on his career, something the Kings surely hope to replicate with budding star Brandt Clarke.
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“I liked to model my game after him, he was an offensive defenseman who was so talented. It was nice getting to learn things from him,” said Leddy while he was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. “When he played, he wasn’t the biggest guy out on the ice, and at the time I wasn’t the biggest guy out there so it was nice learning little tricks from him.”
Housley was not only successful during his playing career but innovative as well. During his time with the Winnipeg Jets, he, Fredrik Olausson and Teppo Numminen routinely got involved in five-man cycles and otherwise joined the offense from their defensive positions.
“Isn’t that the way the game’s supposed to be played?” Housley asked during the 2017 conference finals against the Ducks.
Contrary to the ultra-conservative approach to defense Kings fans saw under Jim Hiller, particularly last season, Laviolette and Housley in particular have advocated an active defense, one in which rearguards join the rush and play low in the offensive zone unabashedly.
“In today’s game, it’s all about speed and mobility. Being able to break down forechecks, using escapability and getting in on the rush in the offensive part of the game,” Housley said. “In the offensive zone, it’s a five-man cycle. The F3 used to be a safety guy but now everybody’s getting involved. That’s where the evolution of the game is, defensemen are more part of the attack.”
Housley’s addition puts an apparent end to the ephemeral stint of two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Greene behind the bench, and he could return to a player development role. Still uncertain was the status of assistant Newell Brown, who had a year remaining on his contract but also oversaw the NHL’s fourth-worst power play over the past two campaigns.
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