FILE - New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, top, watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in New York, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

LOS ANGELES — Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Kings hadn’t yet announced the results of their lengthy search for a permanent replacement for interim coach D.J. Smith, who replaced Jim Hiller in March.

The 61-year-old Laviolette is expected to get a three-year contract to take over his seventh NHL team. The Kings have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, but they’ve also endured five straight first-round exits under three head coaches and two general managers.

Laviolette is returning to the NHL after being fired by the New York Rangers in April 2025. He has also led the New York Islanders, Carolina, Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington during a 23-year head coaching career highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship with the Hurricanes in 2006.

UK football player dies

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky defensive lineman Nic Smith died at age 20, the school announced on Monday.

School spokesman Jay Blanton said the University of Kentucky Police Department received a call Monday at 10:03 a.m. reporting that a student had been found dead in a residence hall. The university announced Smith’s death in a statement later in the day.

Blanton said the police department was working with the Lexington-Fayette County Coroner, and an initial investigation did not indicate that foul play was involved. Kentucky coach Will Stein says in a statement that “our hearts are broken.”