The Los Angeles Kings have promoted John Stevens to head coach, the team announced Sunday.

Stevens has been with the Kings since the 2010-11 season as an assistant coach and spent four games as the team's interim head coach during the 2011-12 season after Terry Murray was fired and before Darryl Sutter was hired. He went 2-2 as the interim head coach.

The Kings fired Sutter on on April 10 after six seasons with the team. The Kings finished the season 39-35-8, eight points out of a playoff spot.

Stevens was the selection of general manager Rob Blake, who along with now team president Luc Robitaille, was promoted once Dean Lombardi was fired after the regular season.

"John and I had very productive dialogue this last week in relation to his head coaching philosophy and specifically how he would implement a strategy to activate our players offensively while maintaining the defensive philosophies we have come to be known for," Blake said in the team's release. "I am confident that we are both in agreement on how that can be executed. With that said, we believe John has the ideal qualities to lead our hockey club. His wide array of coaching experience, including success as an NHL head coach and his inherent knowledge of our players and those in our development system, is very appealing to us. We are confident he is the best person to lead our hockey club forward."

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports the Kings did not interview any other candidates for the head coaching role, though Jim Montgomery was contacted regarding an assistant role. Montgomery won the NCAA National Championship with the University of Denver earlier this month. It's unclear at this time whether Montgomery will join the staff. He has served as Denver's head coach since 2013. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports Montgomery is also a candidate for the head coaching job with the Florida Panthers.

Prior to joining the Kings, Stevens served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. He reached the Eastern Conference Final with the Flyers in 2008, his second season with the team. Stevens was fired after a 13-12-1 start to the 2009-10 season. He owns a 122-112-34 record as an NHL head coach.

Stevens will serve as the 27th head coach in Kings' history. He will introduced at a news conference on Monday.

The team will retain goaltending coach Bill Ranford and announce the remainder of the staff at a later date.