Tortorella 'disappointed' as Vegas passes on retaining him
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- John Tortorella told The Athletic he was "disappointed" by the Vegas Golden Knights' decision not to retain him after an interim stint that ended in a Game 6 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
- Vegas promoted AHL coach Ryan Craig to head coach, with GM Kelly McCrimmon informing Tortorella of the decision the morning after Game 6; Tortorella said McCrimmon told him within "one minute" of sitting down.
- Tortorella went 7-0-1 over his final eight regular-season games after replacing the fired Bruce Cassidy, then swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals.
- Vegas led the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 over the Carolina Hurricanes before dropping the next three games and the championship.
- Tortorella, 68, said he wants to coach again and has now coached six NHL teams, including a Stanley Cup-winning stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04.
- Vegas was fined $100,000 and lost a second-round draft pick in last month's draft after Tortorella skipped a postgame news conference during the second round against the Anaheim Ducks; Tortorella said it was bad timing, not a protest.
Why it matters: Vegas passed over a Cup-winning interim coach in favor of its AHL pipeline, putting the 68-year-old Tortorella back on the NHL coaching carousel while simultaneously reshaping the franchise's identity around organizational continuity. For teams still hunting a bench boss, a motivated Tortorella with a freshly validated playoff résumé becomes one of the more intriguing available options.