The NHL season is barely a month old, but the Los Angeles Kings have apparently seen enough already.

The Kings announced yesterday that they are bringing in former Vancouver Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins on an interim basis after relieving John Stevens of his duties. Stevens had been with the team since 2010 and took over the head coaching role at the beginning of last season.

The Kings currently sit last in the Pacific Division (where the Canucks hold second place) with just nine points in 13 games.

While the “interim” tag seems to indicate that Desjardins might not be with the Kings forever, Los Angeles general manager Rob Blake did say that his contract will last at least until the end of the year.

The team is clearly hoping that Desjardins can inject some fire into an older, veteran group. After making the playoffs last year, many expected the Kings to contend once again, but that hasn’t happened thus far.

Desjardins’ only head coaching gig in the NHL came with the Canucks from 2014-15 to 2016-17 and, while he had a good first year with the team, Vancouver stumbled in the latter two seasons, not making the playoffs in either and posting a win percentage well under .500.

Many disagreed with some of Desjardins’ tactics during his time in Vancouver, as the coach seemed to lean towards boring, no-event hockey, often giving players he trusted like Jayson Megna and Michael Chaput ice time over more skilled players.

Right now, the problem in Hollywood is that the team can’t score goals, so one wonders if this is the right coach for that situation. Coaching changes almost always spur a team in the short term though, so expect L.A.’s veterans to respond to the move.

Desjardins also won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics with a men's Team Canada composed of non-NHL players, including former Canucks like Mason Raymond and Derek Roy.

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