Coaching update

Kings associate coach Mike Johnston has spoken twice with Dean Lombardi and Ron Hextall about the head-coaching job. There were a pair of 90-minute interviews, on Thursday and Saturday, but no hiring is imminent. In fact, Lombardi said the Kings will wait until after the draft — coming up Friday and Saturday — to conduct any more interviews. Lombardi described the meetings by saying, “They were fine. We haven’t really even talked about this team. We talked about his philosophies.”

About the search in general, Lombardi said, “We haven’t met with anybody else and we haven’t talked to anybody. … I think we are very clear on what we’re going to be looking for. We’re not married, by any stretch, to (hiring) a high-profile guy. It’s important that we get a guy with the kind of qualifications we need.”

Lombardi clarified one other thing: Mark Morris will not be the next coach. Not because he doesn’t like Morris. In fact, if anything it’s the opposite. “Arguably, that job is almost as critical as the one we have here,” Lombardi said, referring to Morris’ job as coach of the AHL Manchester Monarchs.

The Kings’ traveling caravan heads to Ottawa on Monday to start draft-week preparations.

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