The Los Angeles Kings are kicking off a search for new general manager after announcing they would be parting ways with Rob Blake, the club announced Monday.

Blake, 55, was the third-longest-serving general manager in franchise history, hired in April 2017 to take over from Dean Lombardi, who held the role for 11 years.

His tenure saw him kick off a rebuild following Stanley Cup wins in 2012 and 2014 — the second of which came the year he was hired as their assistant general manager. While Blake was able to help get the Kings into the playoffs five times — once in 2017-18, his first year, and in each of the last four seasons — his club was never able to advance out of the first round.

The Vegas Golden Knights swept them in four games in that first year, and the Kings could never find a way to get past the Edmonton Oilers in the last four. Blake did good work in L.A., drafting players like Jordan Spence, Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, and Alex Laferriere, all of whom had helped the Kings in recent years.

Multiple trades over his tenure helped shape the roster, too, such as deals to acquire Trevor Moore, Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala, Vladislav Gavrikov, Ivan Proverov and Darcy Kuemper. And with a focus this past offseason on constructing a roster built to beat the Oilers, Blake’s club fell short, winning the first two games, but collapsing in four straight, allowing Edmonton to secure the series in six games.

Rumours swirled over the weekend that Blake’s job — as well as head coach Jim Hiller’s — were believed to be safe, but at least in the case of Blake, for now, that didn’t come to fruition. One has to wonder if a new general manager will look to make a coaching change, but that’s a decision the Kings would have to make sooner, rather than later.

The coaching carousel has started to turn in a big way. With the New York Rangers hiring Mike Sullivan, teams with coaching vacancies include the Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks while the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers all having interim coaches with Joe Sacco, Anders Sorensen and Brad Shaw holding those posts, respectively.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.