Golden Knights make shocking decision towards season’s end
Nov 20, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy watches play against the Utah Mammoth during the third period at Delta Center. It is a new era in Vegas Golden Knights history, and an old one comes to a shocking end. On Saturday, the Golden Knights officially fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and named John Tortorella to serve as the new head coach, effective immediately.
“We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons,” said Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon. “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. ” The coaching change comes amidst what has been a challenging season for the Golden Knights (32-22-16), who secured their first season with more losses than wins in franchise history with Saturday’s shootout loss to the Washington Capitals. Cassidy leaves the Golden Knights with a final record of 178-99-43, as well as securing the only Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2023, when the team defeated the Florida Panthers in five games.
Tortorella is one of the more experienced coaches in the NHL with 23 seasons of head coaching duties, most recently serving as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers for four seasons (2022-25). He has also coached the Columbus Blue Jackets (2015-21), Vancouver Canucks (2013-14), New York Rangers (1999-00, 2008-13) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2000-08). The veteran head coach has coached in 1,620 NHL games, ranking sixth all-time and first among all American coaches.