Golden Knights fire Bruce Cassidy; John Tortorella named replacement
The Vegas Golden Knights announced Sunday that head coach Bruce Cassidy had been fired and replaced with John Tortorella.
“Bruce will forever be remembered with the utmost regard by our organization for what was accomplished here. With the stretch run of the 2025-26 regular season upon us, we believe that a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play that is expected of our club,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a statement.
In four seasons with the Golden Knights, Cassidy produced a 178-99-43 record in 320 regular-season games, finishing with two 50-win seasons and breaking the 110-point mark twice. In 2023, he led the team to its first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
But the club struggled for chunks of the 2025-26 campaign, posting a 32-26-16 with 80 points, putting them third in the Pacific Division and fighting for a playoff spot with eight games to go in the regular season.
The @GoldenKnights have announced the hiring of John Tortorella as head coach.
“With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup Champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL,” McCrimmon added. “His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the pivotal point in the season we currently face. We look forward to welcoming John to Vegas.”
Tortorella has been an NHL head coach for 23 total seasons, most recently with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2025. He led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship in 2004 and won the Jack Adams Award in both 2004 and 2017. He’s coached the Lightning, Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.
His 1,620 career games coached rank sixth all-time and his 770 wins rank ninth in NHL history.
Tortorella also coached the U.S. men’s national team for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and was an assistant coach at the 2026 Winter Olympics.