John Tortorella, Golden Knights Appeal Decision Made by NHL After Draft-Pick Penalty

The Vegas Golden Knights will reportedly still have to surrender a second-round draft pick despite appealing the league's penalty for breaking league media rules following Thursday night's second-round elimination win over the Anaheim Ducks.

The Golden Knights were docked a second-rounder, and head coach John Tortorella was fined $100,000, for what the NHL described as "flagrant violations" of playoff media regulations on Thursday.

The NHL decided to keep these penalties in place following an in-person appeal from the Golden Knights on Tuesday morning in New York, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan and TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Tortorella and the Golden Knights are preparing to open the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET in Denver.

The Athletic's Jesse Granger originally reported Thursday night Tortorella had "declined to speak with the media" after the Golden Knights' 5-1 Game 6 win.

"The Golden Knights also didn't open the dressing room after the game," Granger reported. "They brought one player into a side room to speak, along with the two who spoke at the podium."

The Golden Knights shared a seven-minute video after the win over Mitch Marner and Brett Howden speaking at a podium in addition to a scrum around Shea Theodore.

The NHL said when announcing the penalties Friday the decision came "after previous warnings were issued to the club regarding their compliance with the media regulations and other associated policies."

Tortorella had previously cancelled his media availability ahead of Game 3 of the Golden Knights' first-round series against the Utah Mammoth, per Granger.

The Golden Knights said in a statement after the original penalties were announced the organization would have "no further comment" regarding the NHL's sanctions.

According to Granger, head coaches are required by the NHL to be made available to media "daily during the Stanley Cup playoffs, following morning skates, practices and games."

Locker rooms are also required to remain open to media for 30 minutes following practices and games during the playoffs, Granger reported.

This is not the first time Tortorella has been fined for violating playoff media policies. As coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was fined $25,000 by the NHL in 2020 after leaving the podium following two questions from reporters in the wake of his team's elimination loss by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Knights have already given up their first-rounders over the next two seasons in the Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson trades, respectively. The team also traded a 2027 second-rounder to acquire Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon.

The NHL taking the Knights' 2026 second-rounder means the Golden Knights aren't set to draft earlier than the third round until 2028, per PuckPedia.