After being named as the Vice President and the 10th General Manager in LA Kings franchise history on Wednesday, Ken Holland joined Kings President Luc Robitaille for an introductory press conference in front of the media on Thursday. Holland, 69, and a native of British Columbia joins the Kings as the fifth-winningest general manager in NHL history, accumulating an all-time regular-season record of 1,145-644-272 (.622 PTS %) over 26 seasons between the Detroit Red Wings (1997-2019) and Edmonton Oilers (2019-24). Holland joins the Kings following his most recent five-year stint with Edmonton where he managed the team to five consecutive postseason berths, including three 100-point seasons and a trip to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals. This past season, Holland worked as a Consultant for the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department.
Both Robitaille and Holland opened with prepared statements before the pair fielded questions from the media. After thanking the Kings organization for the opportunity Holland covered a number of topics. Questions and answers ranged from confirming that Head Coach Jim Hiller will return as the team’s bench boss next season, the possibility of bringing in another body or two of his choosing to join his staff, his belief in how great of a job the former GM Rob Blake left the team in, what personnel changes could be made, and much more. The press conference lasted roughly 39 minutes. You can watch the extremely insightful press conference here:
