The Vegas Golden Knights have fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and named John Tortorella as his replacement, the team announced Sunday afternoon.
The shocking decision comes with just eight games remaining in the regular season.
The Golden Knights are 32-26-16 and are currently in third place in the Pacific Division after earning a point in Saturday night’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.
The Golden Knights have been in a losing slump of late, dropping the last three and six of their last seven games, but Cassidy remains one of the top coaches in the NHL.
Cassidy led the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2023 and never missed the playoffs in nearly four seasons with the franchise. He leaves Vegas with a 178-99-43 record in the regular season.
Tortorella served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the Olympics but has not coached since being fired by the Philadelphia Flyers last season. This will be his 24th season behind the bench. The fiery Tortorella coached Tampa Bay to a Stanley Cup in 2004 and is second all-time among American head coaches in wins with 770.
There’s no doubt he’s an experienced bench boss, but his colorful past and harsh coaching style make it an interesting choice, particularly this late in the season. As a coach, Tortorella has been suspended and fined multiple times for misconduct, and his exit from Philadelphia featured no shortage of controversy.
That being said, the Golden Knights have struggled with certain aspects of their game on an ongoing basis, and subpar goaltending, slow starts and an inability to finish have cost the Golden Knights plenty of points this year. But at a certain point, it’s on the players to perform. Nevertheless, Cassidy’s departure comes with the team expected to make the postseason.
This is the second time the Golden Knights have made a surprising coaching change mid-season after firing Gerard Gallant and replacing him with Pete DeBoer in January 2020.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon released a statement regarding the move:
“We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons. Under Bruce’s leadership, we reached out ultimate goal in 2023 by bringing a Stanley Cup to Vegas. 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. With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup Champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL. 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.”
The Golden Knights will host the Canucks, one of Tortorella’s former clubs, on Monday before wrapping up this four-game homestand Thursday against Calgary.
Vegas’ final six games will be against Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle (twice), Colorado and Winnipeg.