Vegas Golden Knights fire head coach Bruce Cassidy, hire John Tortorella as replacement weeks before playoffs
With only 8 games left in the regular season, Vegas is making a sudden coaching change.
With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights are making a sudden coaching change. The team announced Sunday that they have fired head coach Bruce Cassidy, replacing him with former Philadelphia Flyer head coach John Tortorella. “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,” Golden Knight general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a statement.
“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. The Vegas Golden Knights have relieved Bruce Cassidy of his duties as head coach.
John Tortorella has been named head coach. #VegasBorn https://t. co/TSTwVqXlbQ — Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 29, 2026 Tortorella will coach the last eight games of the regular season before help the team in the playoffs.
As of Sunday, Vegas is third in the admittedly lackluster Pacific Division, making a postseason berth quite easy to lock up in the coming weeks. This story will be updated.