LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings have called a news conference for Friday to announce their new general manager, with former San Jose Sharks GM Dean Lombardi the leading candidate to replace the fired Dave Taylor.

Lombardi worked this season as a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Taylor was dismissed as president and general manager Tuesday after the Kings failed to make the playoffs for the third consecutive year. In his nine seasons as the GM, Los Angeles won only one playoff round.

Taylor was asked to remain with the organization in a different capacity, as was director of player personnel Bill O'Flaherty. Assistant GM Kevin Gilmore was assigned to a position with Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the team.

Also in the shakeup, interim coach John Torchetti and his staff were released. Torchetti, who took over when Andy Murray was fired last month, will be interviewed for the coach's job by the new GM.

After leading the Pacific Division on Jan. 8, the Kings began to falter and were 37-28-5 and tied for seventh in the Western Conference when Murray was let go. The Kings went 5-7 under Torchetti.

The 48-year-old Lombardi turned the Sharks into Stanley Cup contenders during his seven years as their GM, but was fired with three weeks left in the 2002-03 season and San Jose last in the Pacific Division and 12th in the Western Conference.

He took over the Sharks late in the 1995-96 season and was considered one of hockey's brightest young executives as the team improved its points total every year until his final season.

Lombardi was known as a shrewd evaluator of player talent, and skilled in putting deals together. But the Sharks seemed to have more than their share of contract holdouts, which he claimed were caused by his attempts to stick close to the budget.