It is the first week of June and if an NHL team hasn’t already named its new head coach, it is bound to do so soon and get that order of business out of the way before the draft.The Los Angeles Kings are one of three teams that still have a vacancy. They could have filled that position long ago, given it has been more than a month since they were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. But it is hardly coincidence that they haven’t determined the fate of interim head coach D.J. Smith and are willing to wait out the Bruce Cassidy saga when it comes to who will lead the team in 2026-27.Other options are under consideration as Cassidy waits to see if the Vegas Golden Knights — as their decision to keep their former coach from speaking to the Kings and Edmonton Oilers is being backed by the NHL — will ultimately relent after the completion of the Stanley Cup Final, where the Knights have a 1-0 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes heading into Game 2 on Thursday night.Kings general manager Ken Holland will hire someone to push a team off the treadmill of first-round playoff exits. He is also in no rush. This hiring cycle includes well-known names that might have included Jared Bednar before the Colorado Avalanche stated their desire to keep their bench boss of a decade.Let’s look at how the possibilities, some of whom are actual candidates, could fit the Kings.Bruce CassidyTwo incontrovertible truths have played out over Cassidy’s 12 years as an NHL head coach.The first is that Cassidy wins wherever he goes. He nearly guided the Washington Capitals to a division title at the age of 37 in his first year after being the coach of the year in the American Hockey League. That was back in 2002-03, but his ability to get players to buy into his system has continued to work even when he needed to restart his coaching path with a stint in the Canadian major junior ranks.Unassailable proof came with his six-season run with the Boston Bruins that included a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, followed by the Cup championship in 2023 with Vegas in his first season. Between the Bruins and Knights, Cassidy also won four other playoff series outside of the Cup runs. He rests comfortably on a career record of 470-254-96 (with nine ties), a .630 points percentage and 62-57 playoff mark.The second truth is that Cassidy’s demanding nature and frank messaging wear on his players. His stint with the Capitals ended just 28 games into the following 2003-04 season, shortly after a public torching of his last-place team. The end with the Bruins had key players reportedly weary of his methods. And while the Knights’ firing of Cassidy with eight games left in the regular season was shocking, the hiring of John Tortorella has proven to be the correct move. Tortorella energized a room Cassidy appeared to have lost.The 61-year-old acknowledged on a recent “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast that he should have taken a lighter touch with his team as it spiraled in a horrendous March. But with the Kings set on making noise with their group now, Cassidy’s emphasis on a strong defensive foundation would sit well with the front office, while his skills as a tactician allow him to work well — at least initially — with top players and other veterans.There’s no question they want to talk with him. But with multiple teams to possibly choose from, Cassidy probably doesn’t have Los Angeles as his preferred choice.Jay WoodcroftCould the Kings pull a successful coach away from their nearby Southern California rival? Woodcroft, 49, just completed his first season with the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant on Joel Quenneville’s staff. But it has felt like only a matter of time before Woodcroft gets his second shot at running an NHL team.Somehow, in a way that shows how absurdly interconnected the league is, the path to the Kings’ coaching job seems to run through Edmonton. Woodcroft went 79-41-13 over three seasons with the Oilers, which included three playoff series wins in total and a berth in the Western Conference final.When he was Edmonton’s GM, Holland hired Woodcroft to replace Dave Tippett. Their association goes back to the mid-2000s in Detroit, when Woodcroft was the Red Wings’ video coach while Holland ran the team. Holland also fired him after the Oilers opened the 2023-24 season with a 3-9-1 record. That hasn’t kept Woodcroft from being a candidate in L.A.In Anaheim, Woodcroft ran the power play. While they showed modest improvement in the regular season, the Ducks carved up Edmonton’s penalty kill in the first round. You imagine his deep knowledge of the Oilers played a role in the Ducks’ six-game victory, but Woodcroft was also coach for Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid’s transcendent 64-goal, 153-point Hart Trophy season (and a 104-point career-best year from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins).Some feel Woodcroft got a raw deal when the Oilers canned him. A move to L.A. would reenergize the Kings’ top offensive performers, and that’s key when Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala — who’ll be returning from a broken leg — are signed long-term and Artemi Panarin is starting a two-year extension. Brandt Clarke would likely be given more leeway to fully explore his offensive talents from the back end.It is interesting to note that Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said he would not stand in Woodcroft’s way when it came to pursuing head coaching vacancies. According to multiple reports, Woodcroft interviewed with the Kings.Peter LavioletteIf you despise the idea of coaches continually being recycled around the league — i.e., “retreads” — then Laviolette’s name coming up here will leave you grumbling about the possibility. He’s already been with six teams. It has been 20 years since he won the Stanley Cup with Carolina. But he’s seventh on the all-time wins list with 846. He has also coached five division champions, the most recent being the 2023-24 New York Rangers.What might be surprising is that Laviolette, 61, is just five months older than Cassidy. This is a coach that obviously has a wealth of experience and an extensive track record but isn’t pushing retirement. “Now, sitting here and watching the playoffs, you just want to get back out there and get after it again,” Laviolette said in May on NHL Network.The Kings, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, have talked to him about the opening.The best argument for Laviolette is that he wins right away. That has been the case at each stop. In his first full seasons with his six teams, Laviolette’s clubs have a .654 points percentage, and that doesn’t include Stanley Cup Final appearances with Carolina and the Philadelphia Flyers after taking over in-season. The flip side is that Laviolette’s winning ways often aren’t sustainable. The upcoming season will mark 10 years since he took the Nashville Predators to their only final, and his stints with the Capitals and Rangers lasted three and two years, respectively.But hiring Laviolette could mean a philosophical change for the Kings. While he is a proponent of the 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap, his teams usually employ a more aggressive forecheck and look to play at a high tempo. Zone entries with the puck are encouraged. Defensemen activate off rushes. Individuals can flourish. Roman Josi progressed into one of the NHL’s very best blueliners under Laviolette, and Panarin had his 120-point season under him when the 55-win Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy.D.J. SmithSmith, 49, did what was asked when he took over on an interim basis from Jim Hiller on March 1. There was no diverting from the plan of getting the Kings into the playoffs, and L.A. went 11-6-6 under his watch to claim the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference. While the Kings were overmatched in a four-game sweep by Colorado in the first round, they played tough against the top-seeded Avalanche in Games 1 and 2.The Kings played a more aggressive and physical brand of hockey under Smith. They averaged only 2.53 goals per game under Hiller but improved by more than half a goal under Smith to 3.09 over the 23 games he coached. They weren’t as tight defensively as goals against crept upward from an average of 2.86 to 3.09, with the penalty killing being last in the NHL during that span. But they fared better in five-on-five play, scoring 56 times while allowing 42 goals.While he is known as a defensive coach, Smith got strong performances from Kempe, Byfield and Trevor Moore in their playoff push. Players responded to Smith and it helps that he has familiarity with them over the last two-plus years. If this were an offseason where so many names with glittering resumes weren’t available, the Kings could talk themselves into taking the interim tag off as they did with Hiller.But if that were a serious consideration, they could have done that weeks ago. It’s obvious the Kings hope to land a big fish by waiting for Vegas to set Cassidy free while talking with others in the meantime. Which leaves Smith in a holding pattern.Kris KnoblauchIf we include Woodcroft in this and the Kings’ interest is apparent, it may make some sense to have Knoblauch as a possibility. Before you think it’s implausible, Knoblauch was the Oilers’ pick to replace Woodcroft after that poor start in 2023-24. The 47-year-old is now on the market after Edmonton fired him on May 14 despite signing the coach to a three-year extension in October.While Holland was the Oilers’ GM at the time of Knoblauch’s hiring, was the coaching switch more of his doing or new Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson wanting to put his stamp on the organization as Holland’s influence was waning? Jackson, who formerly represented McDavid as an agent, was hired in August 2023 and Knoblauch coached McDavid in junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters.Either way, a connection does exist between Holland and Knoblauch, even if the former was headed for a mutual separation with the Oilers following the 2023-24 season. You can’t discount Knoblauch coaching Edmonton to two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances before this year’s first-round flameout. He’s gone to places other Kings coaches haven’t since Darryl Sutter. But how much credit does Knoblauch deserve for the Oilers’ playoff runs when he had two of the best players in the world in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?The extension allows Knoblauch to collect salary from the Oilers through 2029 unless another team hires him. Much like Cassidy, the Oilers could block Knoblauch from interviewing elsewhere — like with a division rival — unless they grant permission. Hard to see them taking that stance, given they’ve also been on the receiving end of the Cassidy situation.Are there others?There is a long history between Holland and Gerard Gallant, but after stops with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Vegas, he has been out of the league since 2023 when the Rangers let him go. It would be quite a sight to see Bruce Boudreau back behind a bench, much less L.A.’s after coaching Anaheim from 2011-16. And kudos to the GM who can lure David Carle out of the University of Denver, an NCAA hockey powerhouse.