Overview
- The Golden Knights announced Tuesday that John Tortorella will not return as head coach after an interim stint that began in late March and ran through the end of the 2025–26 league year.
- Tortorella was hired with eight regular-season games left and led Vegas to a 7-0-1 finish, playoff wins over Utah and Anaheim and a four-game sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche before losing the Stanley Cup Final in six games.
- The NHL fined Tortorella $100,000 and stripped Vegas of a second-round draft pick for repeated violations of league media rules after he refused postgame obligations during the second-round series.
- Goaltender Carter Hart’s repeated high-goal outings in the Final drew sharp scrutiny for both the coach’s lineup choices and the team’s postseason planning.
- Vegas announced Wednesday that Henderson Silver Knights coach Ryan Craig will be the club’s next head coach, a quick internal hire that preserves organizational continuity while management addresses roster moves, goaltending questions and Bruce Cassidy’s remaining contract.