John Tortorella, Golden Knights Agree to HC Contract After Bruce Cassidy Fired Amid NHL Playoff Race

The Vegas Golden Knights announced that the team fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and hired John Tortorella as his replacement on Sunday.

Tortorella previously served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2022-25.

The Golden Knights are currently looking to clinch a playoff spot, sitting at No. 3 in the Pacific Division standings with a 32-26-16 record.

Vegas owned a 178-99-43 record across four seasons under Cassidy, capturing the Stanley Cup in 2023.

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon thanked Cassidy for his tenure with the team.

"We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons," McCrimmon said in Sunday's announcement. "Under Bruce's leadership, we reached our 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."

While it's surprising to see a coaching change with just eight games remaining in the regular season, the Golden Knights have lost six of their past seven contests.

Vegas will now bring in an experienced option in Tortorella, who sits at No. 9 on the NHL's all-time coaching wins list.

He's spent 23 seasons coaching in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Tortorella also received the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the NHL in both 2004 and 2017.

He recently served as an assistant coach for the United States men's Olympic team that secured a gold medal at the 2026 Games.

Now, Tortorella will look to help Vegas potentially clinch its fourth consecutive playoff appearance.