Kings mutually part ways with assistant coach Trent Yawney

The bench in Hollywood is getting even lighter.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Kings announced they have mutually parted ways with assistant coach Trent Yawney.

According to a release, the move takes effect immediately, with the search for a replacement beginning after the team hires a new head coach.

“We appreciate all that Trent has contributed over the past five seasons,” vice president and general manager Rob Blake said in a release. “And thank him for his dedication to the organization.”

Yawney had been serving as an assistant coach with the Kings since the 2019-20 season. He was working alongside Todd McLellan before he was fired this past February. Jim Hiller took over the head coach job on an interim basis, helping guide Los Angeles to a third-place finish in the Pacific Division before being knocked out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers.

Yawney has been coaching at the professional level since he hung up the skates at the end of the 1998-99 season. He has been an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks (1999-00), San Jose Sharks (2008-11), Anaheim Ducks (2014-18) and Edmonton Oilers (2018-19). The Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan native was also the head coach for the Chicago Blackhawks from the 2005-06 season, and partway through the 2006-07 campaign before being fired in November of that season. He was replaced by Denis Savard.

In his playing career, Yawney appeared in 593 NHL games, scoring 27 goals and 129 points, accumulating 783 penalty minutes. He also scored 26 points in 60 playoff games. Yawney was a member of the 1988 Canadian Olympic Team in Calgary.