It has been a busy week for the Vegas Golden Knights. They lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina on Sunday. Then on Tuesday, the Golden Knights announced John Tortorella would not be back as the head coach.
On Wednesday, the Golden Knights announced their new coach, per a release from the team.
Ryan Craig has been announced as the fifth head coach in Golden Knights’ history. He has been at the helm of the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of Vegas. Craig has been the coach of the Silver Knights since the start of the 2023-24 season. In his first season, he led them to a 28-36-3-5 record, but did not qualify for the playoffs. Since then, the team has only improved. It was 29 wins in 2024-25, and then a 39-21-7-5 record this past season. That earned them their first playoff berth since 2022.
The Silver Knights went on to lose to the Colorado Eagles in the Calder Cup playoffs.
After a playing career that spanned from 2003 through 2017, primarily in the AHL ranks, he began his coaching career. He was hired in June of 2017 by the Golden Knights, heading into their first season as a franchise, while retiring from playing at the same time. From 2017 until he was announced as the head coach of the Silver Knights, Craig was an assistant for the NHL club. In that he was on the coaching staff that went to two Stanley Cup Finals and won once in 2023.
Three of the four prior coaches of the Golden Knights have brought their team to the Stanley Cup Final. Gerard Gallant did so in 2018, while Bruce Cassidy won it in 2023. Tortorella then brought the team to the Cup final this year after taking over for Cassidy. Now, Craig hopes to continue that success for the Golden Knights.
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