Kings fire McLellan, NHL heading to the Olympics, and the Jets trade for Sean Monahan

It’s All-Star week, but it may as well be the March 8th trade deadline already. Thanks for that, Mr. Rutherford. Let’s dive into today’s top stories!

LA Kings fire Todd McLellan

Today, Pierre-Luc Dubois the Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Todd McLellan. The firing isn’t all that surprising, as after a hot start to the season that had many people changing their Cup favourite pick to the Kings, LA just wrapped up a disastrous month of January that saw them fall out of the race for top spot in the Pacific Division.

Not only were the Kings tabbed as favourites to win the Division and then some, the club’s monstrous start to the season had McLellan as one of the early favourites to win the Jack Adams Award as the league’s best coach.

And now, he’s out of a job.

“This was not an easy decision,” said Kings GM Rob Blake. “We felt the change was necessary at this time.”

The Kings have appointed Jim Hiller, the assistant coach, as McLellan’s interim replacement for the rest of the season. Hiller, currently in his second season with L.A., previously served as an assistant to Barry Trotz with the New York Islanders and worked with Mike Babcock in Detroit and Toronto.

The Kings’ 3-7-5 record in the month of January, coupled with the Oilers’ 16 game win streak, has effectively taken LA out of the Pacific Division race, a race the Canucks currently lead. Barring a big turnaround, the Kings will likely have to settle for a Wild Card spot if they are to make the playoffs.

Jets trade for Sean Monahan

We said thank you Mr. Rutherford a bit sarcastically in the opening line, and that’s because the Canucks aggressively going after Elias Lindholm over a month before the trade deadline has resulted in other teams stepping up to the plate.

But Canucks fans may be sincerely thanking Rutherford when they see what the Winnipeg Jets — who were reportedly interested in Lindholm — had to give up to acquire Sean Monahan, a centre with less defensive acumen and less offensive upside than Lindholm.