Los Angeles Kings reveal new logo design inspired by Wayne Gretzky era

The Los Angeles Kings revealed its new logo on Thursday, offering fans a first look at the nostalgia-inspired design.

The logo is a slightly updated version of the classic logo worn by the Kings in the ’90s. Officially called the “chevron” logo, this version of the logo is most associated with Kings great Wayne Gretzky, who played in Los Angeles from 1988 to 1996.

Per the Kings, the design features a different crown, swapping the old ’90s crown for the crown design used in 1967, when the team first joined the NHL as an expansion team. Other small details have been slightly updated, including the angle of the sides and the font used for “Los Angeles.”

The Kings also opted to stick to the black-gray-white color palette, as opposed to the purple and yellow that the team initially used from 1967 to 1988. Two alternate Kings logos also include a “kick K,” paying homage to the descending “K” in the original Kings logo.

Kings COO Kelly Cheeseman told LA Kings Insider that the idea for an updated ’90s logo came a few years ago, after the Kings wore throwback jerseys in 2019 and 2020.

“When we dropped the 90’s heritage jersey that we were going to wear on the ice for the first time in a long time, and we unveiled that really cool video that went out, and it was wildly popular by the fans that it was going to come back,” Cheeseman said, adding that COVID put a pause on some of their plans. “We saw the popularity and demand for that brand and jersey.”

Cheeseman said that the team transitioned to a different direction for their merchandising and found that fans and player were both excited about the Gretzky-era jersey styles. “So, the fans spoke, the players spoke, so thus the journey started. We went through the exploration of refreshing looking at what the new look would look like,” he said.

Though the logo is now public, the Kings have not given any additional information about next season’s jerseys. Teams usually drop new jerseys designs ahead of the NHL draft, which takes place next weekend.