The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that they have fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and hired John Tortorella.
The Vegas Golden Knights have fired Bruce Cassidy as head coach.
John Tortorella was named head coach.#VegasBorn
– Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 29, 2026
The move by GM Kelly McCrimmon comes a day after the Golden Knights fell to the Washington Capitals and former goaltender Logan Thompson. As a source told NHLRumors.com, “Vegas is betting on the wrong horse.” This refers to the Golden Knights selecting Adin Hill instead of Thompson.
It’s like Bowness and @BlueJacketsNHLTorts is employed until the end of the season.
– Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 29, 2026
NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights Want To Re-Sign Rasmus Andersson
Jokingly, former General Manager Lou Lamoriello is a great mentor in Vegas. The late firing of the coach appeared in his book. Remember that he fired Robbie Ftorek as head coach of the New Jersey Devils in 1999-2000 seven games into the Larry Robinson season. The Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Lamoriello also fired Claude Julien in 2007 with New Jersey in second place in the Eastern Conference. Lamoriello came off the bench with three games left in the season. So this is nothing new. But it’s rare to see this late in the season. However, Vegas is underperforming and sits four points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in third place in the Pacific Division.
Cassidy has one year left on his deal next season.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 29, 2026
Cassidy was brought in in the summer of 2022 after being released by the Boston Bruins. In his first season with the Golden Knights, he led them to the Stanley Cup Championship. Now, with one season left on his contract, coming this summer, Cassidy is out of a job again.
GM Kelly McCrimmon in a press release: “We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons. Under Bruce’s leadership, we achieved our ultimate goal in 2023 by bringing the Stanley Cup to Vegas. Bruce will forever be remembered by our organization’s respect for what has been accomplished here. With the 2025-26 season underway we believe that a normal season transition is necessary to return to normal for us, we believe that a normal season It’s important to us. We have John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup champion and one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL.
NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights Looking at Centers
But it’s not like no one saw this coming. The Vegas Golden Knights are known for doing this. Maybe not this late, but since the franchise’s existence in 2017-18, John Tortorella will be its fourth head coach, following Gerard Gallant, Pete DeBoer and Cassidy.
Vegas has been around for 8-plus seasons:
– 7 playoff appearances
– 2 conference finals
– 2 trips to the finals
– 1 Stanley CupJohn Tortorella will now be their fourth coach. And people think there’s pressure playing in Toronto?#VegasBorn
— Michael Amato (@amato_mike) March 29, 2026
During that time, the Golden Knights have been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs seven times, twice in the conference finals, twice in the Stanley Cup Finals, and one Stanley Cup. It’s a winning business for McCrimmon, not a hockey business.
However, you can see this coming. The Golden Knights are not as good defensively as they have been in years past. Not having Alex Pietrangelo hurts the team, but neither are Nic Hauge and Zach Whitecloud. Noah Hanifin is still finding his way there and is not having the best years. Rasmus Andersson has looked lost in Vegas since being traded from Calgary. Let’s see if he will end up signing for a long time there.
NHL Trade: Calgary Flames Trade Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights
For a team that tends to fluctuate a lot during trades, he hasn’t done much. McCrimmon felt the goaltending of Akira Schmid, Adin Hill, and Carter Hart was enough. However, Tortorella comes with only one thing: to make the team play better, organized defense.
Tortorella won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and has coached the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Vancouver Canucks. He looks to do the same in Vegas with a few familiar faces in Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. Both players were on the Team USA Olympic Gold Medal winning team.
?Night Cap Recap ?
Bruce Cassidy Out… John Tortorella In
About winning in Vegas
The Lou Lamoriello Special #vegasborn pic.twitter.com/HsQaXAKYNj
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 29, 2026
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