Despite a hugely successful if brief stint behind the bench of the Vegas Golden Knights, head coach John Tortorella will not be back with the franchise in 2026-27, general manager Kelly McCrimmon announced on Tuesday.
“We thank Torts for the guidance he provided our team since joining the organization in March. When the decision was made to bring Torts to Vegas, we needed an immediate impact to help us at a pivotal point in the season,” the GM said in the official release.
“Torts’ experience and leadership proved to be the boost that we were looking for, helping guide us to the Stanley Cup Final. We are grateful for Torts’ passion, sincerity, and commitment to our organization, and we wish him and his family the best.”
Tortorella took over after Bruce Cassidy was fired in March. He led the team on a dramatic late-season surge, going 7-0-1 in the regular season to help the team win the Pacific Division at the last.
The success continued into the Stanley Cup Playoffs; the Knights defeated the Utah Mammoth in six games before dispatching the Anaheim Ducks in similar fashion.
The most impressive was a four-game sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, a series in which Vegas was heavy underdogs.
Although it ended in disappointment — a six-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final — it was a terrific run for Tortorella behind the bench.
But despite all of the success, he will not get an opportunity to finish the job in 2026-27. Vegas will now join the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers as the only NHL teams without a bench boss for next season.
Whoever is hired next is going to have huge shoes to fill, as Tortorella nearly authored an incredible run to hockey’s ultimate prize, which would have been his second title after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to glory in 2004.
Vegas now faces the task of finding a new head coach capable of building on one of the most surprising runs in franchise history as the organization continues its pursuit of a second Stanley Cup championship.
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