EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Todd McLellan will remain coach of the Los Angeles Kings for the rest of the season, general manager Rob Blake said Thursday.
The Kings began the season 16-4-3, but have five wins since (5-9-5) and have one win in their past 11 games (1-6-4) after a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.
"Like I said, our philosophy here for the past three, four years is on the structure and the system and the design, in the buy-in of the players, and [McLellan has] gotten that from the players," Blake said. "I'm going to rely on the players and the leadership to get us out of that."
With the loss Thursday, the Kings (21-13-8) fell to fourth the Pacific Division, one point behind the Edmonton Oilers.
"I mean, we're sitting here at the halfway point (of the season) at 50 points," Blake said. "You always say 100 points gets you in (the playoffs). We're a game or two off the pace where we were last year. We were really good early on but slipped."
McLellan signed a one-year contract through the 2024-25 season in October. He is in his fifth season coaching the Kings, who have reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past two seasons, losing to the Oilers in the Western Conference First Round each time.
With the Kings up against the NHL salary cap before having to account for the possible return of forward Viktor Arvidsson, who has not played this season because of back surgery but could begin working out with the team around the All-Star break, making a move to bolster the team could be difficult.
Instead, Blake is looking for Kings players to turn things around, starting with the recent slide on defense. They had allowed at least three goals in all nine losses over the previous 10 games before Thursday.
"We've always relied on structure and system and defending, and I would say the last little bit, it's gotten a little away from us, and we have to get that back as a staple of the game," Blake said. "Todd's done a real good job of installing that over the years, and we have to continue that part of it."
Los Angeles has also seen diminishing returns on offense, scoring 24 goals over its past 11 games.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Kings' standout offseason addition, has five points (two goals, three assists) over the past 11 games and was dropped down to center the fourth line in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 9.
Blake said he was largely pleased with the overall performance of Dubois, who has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 42 games after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in a trade for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft on June 27, 2023. On July 4, Dubois signed an eight-year, $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value).
"When he has the puck, there's a lot of good things happening," Blake said. "There's ways to get that puck back that we need more, but that's not on him. That's our team right now."
