Golden Knights got the full John Tortorella experience

With eight games remaining in the 2025-26 regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights decided they needed a new voice behind their bench.

It was at that point that they fired Bruce Cassidy, who had previously won a Stanley Cup in Vegas, and replaced him with the fiery and at times controversial John Tortorella.

Even though Tortorella only coached the team for 30 games, including the playoffs, he gave them a wild ride.

It was not always positive. 

And now, following their season-ending 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night, they have to decide if they want to do this again over a full season.

John Tortorella gave Vegas a wild ride this season

On one hand, Tortorella did help Vegas turn its season around and reach the Stanley Cup Final.

That is a significant accomplishment, and one that should not be taken lightly. Winning a conference championship is meaningful, and they were ultimately just two wins away from a championship.

They were knocking on the door.

But Tortorella did not exactly cover himself in glory in the Stanley Cup Final series, or in some of the ways he handled himself after games. 

Some of it was costly.

The negative side to the Tortorella experience is that his frosty relationship with the media resulted in him skipping out on a post-game press conference following their second-round win over the Anaheim Ducks. That decision, combined with the fact Vegas had previously been warned about its dealings with the media, resulted in Tortorella being fined $100,000 and Vegas losing a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Given how few draft assets Vegas has in the coming years, that is a significant penalty and could impact their ability to make a trade this offseason or add a prospect into the organization. 

But Tortorella also made some costly decisions behind the bench that were impactful.

His coach's challenge late in Game 2, which seemed like a bad idea at the time even without the benefit of hindsight, played a big role in Vegas losing that game and missing out on a chance to take what could have been a commanding 2-0 series lead. 

His refusal to go away from starting goalie Carter Hart, despite the fact he had a miserable start to the series, also loomed large and may have been responsible for at least one other loss in the series. Especially when he had a Stanley Cup-winning goalie in Adin Hill sitting on his bench, and even more so when the Carolina team that ultimately won the cup benefited so significantly from a mid-series goalie switch. 

Tortorella not only stubbornly refused to consider it, but he was insulting in how dismissive he was with it. 

His paycheck is $100,000 lighter.

Vegas has one less draft pick with nothing to show for it.

They do not even have a championship to make it all worth it. Even worse, they may have missed an opportunity to get it with some better in-game (and pre-game) decision-making.