LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings have promoted John Stevens to associate head coach and re-signed assistant coach Davis Payne and goaltending coach Bill Ranford.
The Stanley Cup champions announced the moves to keep coach Darryl Sutter’s staff intact Wednesday.
Stevens is a former head coach in Philadelphia. He briefly served as the Kings’ interim head coach before Sutter was hired during their 2011-12 championship season.
Stevens had been mentioned as a candidate for offseason job openings in Vancouver, Pittsburgh and Carolina.
Payne is the former St. Louis coach who joined the Kings’ staff in 2012 after their first title.
Ranford played parts of 15 seasons in the NHL. He has spent the last eight seasons coaching the Kings, who won the Jennings Trophy for the league’s best goals-against average last season.
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