Derek King

For other people named Derek King, see Derek King (disambiguation).

Derek King
Born	(1967-02-11) February 11, 1967 (age 58) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [1]
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	New York Islanders Hartford Whalers Toronto Maple Leafs St. Louis Blues Munich Barons
National team	Canada
NHL draft	13th overall, 1985 New York Islanders
Playing career	1986–2000

Derek King (born February 11, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger and current head coach for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League ^[2] . He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. King played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1986–87 until 1999–2000.

Playing career

King was drafted 13th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He played 830 career NHL games, scoring 261 goals and 351 assists for 612 points. He was a three-time 30-goal scorer, including one 40-goal season. He scored the last Maple Leafs goal in Maple Leaf Gardens in 1999. ^[3]

Coaching career

On August 21, 2009, King was named the assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. In 2014, he was promoted to associate coach. ^[4]

On July 28, 2015, King was named assistant coach of the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. ^[5] However, he left the Attack on October 28, 2015. ^[6]

On July 7, 2016, King was named an assistant coach with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, the minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. ^[7] On November 6, 2018, King was named the interim head coach of the IceHogs when head coach Jeremy Colliton was promoted to the Blackhawks. ^[8] King was named the permanent head coach of the IceHogs at the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[9]

On November 6, 2021, King was named interim head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League to replace the dismissed Colliton, who led the team to a 1–9–2 start to the 2021–22 season. ^[10]

On November 7, 2021 King earned his first win as an NHL head coach as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 2–1 in overtime in his head coaching debut. ^[11]

On June 27, 2022, King was replaced as head coach of the Blackhawks by former Montreal Canadiens assistant and longtime NHL defenseman Luke Richardson, but rehired 14 days later as an assistant coach.

On August 4th, 2025 the Hershey Bears announced King as the 29th head coach in franchise history, replacing Todd Nelson who left the organization after winning two Calder Cup titles in his 3 year tenure ^[12] .

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1982–83	Hamilton Mountain A's	OPJHL		8	1	2	3	0		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Hamilton Mountain A's	OPJHL		37	10	14	24	142		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		63	35	38	73	106		16	3	13	16	11
1985–86	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL		25	12	17	29	33		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Oshawa Generals	OHL		19	8	13	21	15		6	3	2	5	13
1986–87	Oshawa Generals	OHL		57	53	53	106	74		17	14	10	24	40
1986–87	New York Islanders	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Springfield Indians	AHL		10	7	6	13	6		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	New York Islanders	NHL		55	12	24	36	30		5	0	2	2	2
1988–89	Springfield Indians	AHL		4	4	0	4	0		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	New York Islanders	NHL		60	14	29	43	14		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Springfield Indians	AHL		21	11	12	23	33		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	New York Islanders	NHL		46	13	27	40	20		4	0	0	0	4
1990–91	New York Islanders	NHL		66	19	26	45	44		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	New York Islanders	NHL		80	40	38	78	46		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	New York Islanders	NHL		77	38	38	76	47		18	3	11	14	14
1993–94	New York Islanders	NHL		78	30	40	70	59		4	0	1	1	0
1994–95	New York Islanders	NHL		43	10	16	26	41		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	New York Islanders	NHL		61	12	20	32	23		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	New York Islanders	NHL		70	23	30	53	20		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Hartford Whalers	NHL		12	3	3	6	2		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		77	21	25	46	43		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		81	24	28	52	20		16	1	3	4	4
1999–2000	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		3	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	St. Louis Blues	NHL		19	2	7	9	6		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		52	19	30	49	25		17	7	8	15	8
2000–01	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		76	32	51	83	19		10	5	5	10	4
2001–02	München Barons	DEL		60	19	26	45	22		9	2	4	6	4
2002–03	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL		59	13	28	41	20		15	4	10	14	6
2003–04	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL		77	9	21	30	19		4	0	2	2	0
NHL totals				830	261	351	612	417		47	4	17	21	24

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1992	Canada	WC		6	1	1	2	6

NHL head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season						Postseason
		G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Finish	W	L	Win%	Result
CHI	2021–22	70	27	33	10	(64)	7th in Central	—	—	—	Missed playoffs

References

1. Cole, Stephen (2006). The Canadian Hockey Atlas . Doubleday Canada. ISBN   978-0-385-66093-8.
2. "Hershey Bears Name Derek King 29th Head Coach in Franchise History | NEWS | Hershey Bears Hockey". www.hersheybears.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
3. Kreiser, John (February 13, 2018). "Feb. 13: Maple Leaf Gardens hosts final game . he has two kids that are both 14 years and another one that is 21". NHL.com. Retrieved June 4, 2018. Derek King's second-period goal is the last by a Toronto player
4. "Marlies hire Gord Dineen as head coach, promote Derek king to associate coach". NHL.com. July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
5. "The Owen Sound Attack announce hiring of Ryan McGill and Derek King". Owen Sound Attack. July 28, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
6. "Derek King steps down". attackhockey.com. October 28, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
7. "King Added to Icehogs Coaching Staff". theahl.com. July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
8. "Blackhawks Name King as Rockford Interim Head Coach". IceHogs.com. November 6, 2018.
9. "King named IceHogs head coach as 'Hawks remove interim tag". WREX. April 26, 2019.
10. Myers, Tracey (November 6, 2021). "Colliton fired as coach of Blackhawks, replaced by King". NHL.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
11. Brandon Cain (November 8, 2021). "Blackhawks Defeat Predators in OT in Derek King's Debut as Coach". On Tap Sports Net. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
12. "Hershey Bears Name Derek King 29th Head Coach in Franchise History | NEWS | Hershey Bears Hockey". www.hersheybears.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Brad Dalgarno	New York Islanders first round draft pick 1985	Succeeded by Tom Fitzgerald
Sporting positions
Preceded by Jeremy Colliton	Head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks (interim) 2021–2022	Succeeded by Luke Richardson