Golden Knights will not retain John Tortorella

Obviously, that’s not how things shook out. Under Tortorella’s stewardship, the Golden Knights took out the Mammoth (with two overtime games) and the Anaheim Ducks relatively easily. However, their easiest series of the postseason shockingly came in the Western Conference Final, when the Golden Knights knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep. Unfortunately, after taking a lead in the series after Game 3, their postseason came to an end at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s hard to determine whose decision this was. Before joining the Golden Knights at the end of the season, Tortorella was essentially retired from coaching except for a tenure in the international circuit. Given that his coaching career began back in the 1989-90 season, Tortorella may have just wanted one last run at things before retiring for good.

Additionally, it’s even harder to imagine Tortorella, especially at his age, joining the two available options. Currently, outside of Vegas, the only two teams without a head coach for the 2026-27 campaign are the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Given his combativeness with the media throughout his coaching career, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for him to take over behind the bench for a team with a feisty media environment.

Still, the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs showed that Tortorella has some fuel left in the tank. If there is another coaching dismissal this offseason, Tortorella would immediately become a candidate, especially for a team on the fringe of postseason contention.