Derek King

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. 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.

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.

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

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. On November 6, 2018, King was named the interim head coach of the IceHogs when head coach Jeremy Colliton was promoted to the Blackhawks. King was named the permanent head coach of the IceHogs at the end of the 2018–19 season.

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.

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.

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 4, 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.

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