Darryl Sutter Officially Named Kings Head Coach, Will Take Over Wednesday

Stevens will be retained by the club for at least the remainder of the season as an assistant to Sutter.

For more on the hire, check in with Kings blog Jewels From The Crown.

We don’t know exactly when Sutter will be introduced as coach of the Kings, but it’ll likely be at some point next week. Given those immigration issues, Stevens will certainly be behind the bench for the Kings on Saturday night against Detroit, and it’s almost certain that he’ll coach on Monday night in Toronto as well.

For more on the hiring of Darryl Sutter, check in with Kings blog Jewels From The Crown.

Of course, the job isn’t completely vacant. John Stevens, an assistant under recently fired head coach Terry Murray, has the interim tag. It just doesn’t appear as though he’ll have it for long now. There’s no word on if he’d go back to an assistant role under Sutter. It’s too early to tell at this point.

Of course, there’s the major caveat there -- Stevens has the interim tag attached to his name, and there doesn’t seem to be all that much talk about the chances he could keep the job.

His dismissal was ultimately forced for the same reason Murray was fired from the Kings -- a highly talented team failed to perform under his leadership, and it seemed as though that coaching change worked for the Flyers. They wound up advancing all the way to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final without Stevens.

Murray leaves as one of the franchise’s winningest caoches. He compiled a 139-106-30 regular season record, ranks third in wins (139), fourth in games coached (275) and first in winning percentage (.560). Murray also reached the 100-win mark faster than any other coach in Kings history.

However, the Kings have gotten off a slow start in the 2011-12 season with a 13-12-4 record, leaving them fourth in the Pacific Division. The offense is currently averaging a league-low 2.24 goals per game and so the team decided to make a move.