Already having introduced a new general manager for the parent club in May, the Kings presented their new minor-league bench boss, Andrew Lord, on Tuesday.
Lord, 40, had been around El Segundo and the Inland Empire a bit for various camps when he guided the Kings’ ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, from 2020-24. Now, he’s back to run the much more directly connected AHL club, the Ontario Reign.
“I’m really aligned with the organization [in terms of] culture, structure, details and competitive nature. I feel like my coaching style really blends with that. I’m super excited,” Lord said.
Earlier this offseason, new GM Ken Holland alluded to a potential hire falling through, though Lord declined to comment on the hiring process Tuesday.
Holland was among those Lord thanked for the opportunity to replace Marco Sturm, who was hired as the head coach of the Boston Bruins this offseason. Lord said the “language, systems, structure and identity” of the Reign would mirror those of the Kings, and that “whatever they need from us, we’re gonna do.”
“It’s going to be seamless, it has to be, right? If we’re expecting guys to be able to get called up today or tomorrow to go and play in a National Hockey League game, they’ve got to be playing the same system,” Lord said.
Lord, a Canadian who began his coaching career as a player-coach for a Welsh pro club, the Cardiff Devils, returned to North America with Greenville and then spent last year guiding the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads at the junior level.
Halifax purged many of its older players, leaving Lord with five 16-year-old players and what he said was “one of the youngest teams in league history.” That experience, Lord said, better prepared him to seek the delicate balance between player development and team competitiveness.
“It is the ultimate juggling act, between development and winning,” Lord said. “I really believe winning is developing in a lot of ways, starting with developing a competitive nature, clawing yourself out of tough situations, going on the road and having a big win.”
Assistants Brad Schuler, Christ Hajt (defensemen) and Adam Brown (goaltending) will all carry over from Sturm’s staff to Lord’s.