Ken’s Introduction Press Conference of Ken Holland

Official presentation of Ken Holland, the new vice-president and managing director of the Kings of Los Angeles. Holland is the tenth general manager of the history of the franchise, succeeding Rob Blake, who separated from the organization via a mutual decision, after having occupied this role for eight seasons.

Holland spoke of several subjects today at Toyota Sports Performance Center because he was joined by the president of Kings Luc Robitaille, who was mainly responsible for the hiring of Holland.

Regarding the process of reached this point, Robitaille said today that he had spoken with “many” candidates in the last week approximately, Holland has quickly surfaced as the first candidate available. After a first conversation, Holland and Robitaille carried out a more formal interview at the end of last week, leading to the ultimate decision to proceed on Monday. He took a few days to sprinkle the I and cross the T and the Holland contract was formalized on Wednesday, with the announcement of yesterday after a short time after.

“We have had many interviews, we talked about the philosophy of the team, where this franchise wants to be, our players and our coaching staff and the whole organization and it has become clear to me that the best person was Ken,” said Robitaille. “The only thing he has is that he knows the way to get to the championship and it is a difficult thing to do and it is a difficult thing to learn. Obviously, his experience, what he did during his career, is very important. It is very important at this time for this franchise that would reach this higher level.”

The agreement for Holland is a multi -year contract, as he specified, although he did not detail the company number. Holland was linked to the opening of the Kings as well as to the opening of the Icelanders, which is not filled and it mentioned that it had spoken with “some” teams overall, which means that it was involved on the lists of several NHL clubs. In the end, what attracted Holland to the Kings is the group in place, among other things. He sees the Kings as a team close to overcoming the bump that has now retained them in four consecutive seasons, sharing the vision of existing management and team possession. The funny part is that it was partially responsible for preventing it from Kings from getting there earlier, as Director General of Edmonton’s Oilers during post-Assurance sessions 2022, 2023 and 2024. Speaking of selection of kings, he also talked about stable property, a commitment to win, his relationship with Robitaille and a desire to stay ideally on the west coast, which is more accessible for him and his wife Cindi to see and visit the family.

“When Luc called – and I had spoken to a few teams here in the past three weeks – I just thought it was a good choice for me, personally and professionally,” said Holland. “I failed to be under fire.”

Regarding the management of the group, it is not a situation of reconstruction or even a situation of restilling, in the spirit of the Holland. Not the management that the kings plan to go. There could certainly be any changes to come, without a doubt, but changes designed to get the kings where they want to go, which is deeper in the playoffs than in the last four seasons, with a third championship the ultimate destination for any club.

“I am in Los Angeles and I will use the same mentality that we did in Detroit, that we did in Edmonton and I have to peel, one day at a time, a meeting at a time, a movement at a time, to try to constitute this team to the place where we obviously want to win a series of series of qualifiers, but I do not want to spoil, because they had a good year, it was a good team, they had a good team,” said Holland. “This is a good hockey team that i thought, three weeks ago, when i looked surround the league, that was one of the teams that I thought they could go to the final oven and they doyid and they didn’t …… we want to win the stanley cup, that the ultimate Goal, but it starts with building blocks and lots of building blocks are in place here.

So what is his plan?

Just question. He has only been at work for 24 hours, officially, but his mind has certainly been on the Kings in recent days. He has decisions to make, internally at the start and, finally, in the overview of the organization. He was two months old occupied in front of him. He said he planned to connect with the other 31 managers general in the next 7 to 10 days and plans to attend the NHL scout combination personally, like another point of contact for these conversations, in addition to the work in the evaluation of prospects. Hollandes will also meet professional and amateur scouts in the coming weeks to get an idea of ​​what is already in place, also adding its own contribution to these conversations.

There is probably no external candidate who knows kings better than Holland. He was one of three playoffs as an opposing general manager and he understands the team he built who beat the Kings. He also understands the team that has embarrassed the Kings now Four Seasons flowing … because he has built a lot from this team. If you look at the movements that Holland made in Edmonton, there was an orientation and a fairly clear direction to make them gain in the playoffs. The type of players acquired specifically during its last three seasons with the Oilers has brought the types of players who have had an impact in the playoffs. An impact that kings must have and they must do soon.

Here is what Holland had to say about a few different subjects, with regard to the status of the organization before summer.

On the status of Jim Hiller as a team -mower of the team
Holland confirmed that Jim Hiller would come back as a team-and-chef coach, stressing that he and Hiller met yesterday for about two hours, on a certain number of different subjects. Hiller, as well as his coaching staff, were present at the press conference today, Hiller has referred several times for the work he has done this season and his growth expected in the future as a second year chief coach.

“Jim Hiller did a fabulous job by leading the team to 105 points. They were very defensively. They were good at the special team. The team played hard again, I thought. I was thinking three weeks ago that it was a team that had the potential, the ability to spend a long eliminatory race, and he would be a better coach next year for the experience he went through this year. Experience in playoffs, it’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing.

By having the capacity to spend on the salary ceiling to build the team
Holland reiterated what Robitaille said last week, the Kings will have the freedom to spend on the salary ceiling if they wish. This does not mean that they will do it right away, but there is also the possibility of doing it throughout the season. The Kings currently have more than $ 20 million in space, representing all the return players who ended the season with the NHL club. It’s a lot of room to add. If the Kings find the right players via the trade or the free agency, regardless of the amount or the term in dollars, they will have the opportunity to bring this player.

“Yes, absolutely yes (Robitaille and I) talked about it. The Kings of Los Angeles want to be in a group of large boys. We are ready to go to the ceiling. Now you are not only going to spend it to spend it, but if we think there is a player who could cost a lot of money and a lot of well-being, the answer is yes. I’m going to work with Luc, I work with Dan (Beckerman) and obviously the owner, but it is an organization that, it is good, who, I am good by train, and I am doing it, that it is certainly, who, I am doing, that what is, certainly, who, I am doing myself, that is certainly, who is what is. In my mind, passing through all this.

On different things, kings must take the next step forward
Holland approached this subject in one form or another in a lot of different questions and it was difficult to get a quote.

He spoke of the importance of feeling built for the playoffs. He talked about the probability of doing a business or signing a player, but also the importance of young players who also take steps in their process. Obtaining the 2nd year of Brandt Clarke Better than year 1 could have such an impact that reports an external player, for example. I think kings need both, personally, and it seems that Holland has accepted. What he certainly has is the experience of doing the job, having undergone assessments similar to Detroit and Edmonton, something on which he relied in today’s availability.

“When I think about the growth of the Red Wings of Detroit when I was there, then I think about the construction of Edmonton’s Oilers and where they are today, in the last four consecutive consecutive years, you can simply take it into account, you have to believe in terms of. Edmonton, and certainly, that’s what we hope to do here. »»

Personally, I am delighted to see what Holland can do.

He did not share a ton of details on the vision of the club’s improvement, but seemed quite confident in his way. We would probably like more details on certain areas, but it is here one day and it is not major surgery. He carefully thought about the next steps. There will be external acquisitions by the opening evening and it will take steps in front of certain players who are already within the organization. I felt quite confident in what he said and confident that he has a vision for the team in the future, which is most important of the two. See where things are going here, with the offseason, he beats completely.