John Tortorella Won’t Return As Golden Knights Coach After Stanley Cup Final Run

The NHL offseason has only just begun, and the chaos is already here.

The biggest headline that shook up the hockey world Tuesday actually came from the team that just lost in the Stanley Cup Final. The Vegas Golden Knights announced that John Tortorella will not return as head coach next season, ending one of the strangest and most fascinating short-term coaching runs in recent NHL memory.

Tortorella, 67, was a surprise hire when Vegas brought him in with only eight games remaining in the regular season. The Golden Knights had just fired Bruce Cassidy, who still had one year left on his contract, despite the team being in playoff position.

Then Tortorella came in and made the whole thing work.

Vegas finished 7-0-1 in the regular season after he took over, won the Pacific Division, and then made a run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights ultimately fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games, finishing two wins short of another Stanley Cup championship.

That’s what makes this situation so interesting. This wasn’t a coach taking over a bad team and simply stabilizing it. This was a coach stepping into a bizarre late-season situation, pushing the right buttons, and helping guide a contender to the final series of the season.

But he still won’t be back.

The key part here is that this hasn’t really been framed as a firing. It’s more of a temporary arrangement that ran its course. Tortorella and general manager Kelly McCrimmon had an understanding that the situation would be evaluated after the season, and now Vegas will move forward with a search for a permanent head coach.

So this isn’t a case where Tortorella failed or wasn’t enough. If anything, the arrangement worked out about as well as it possibly could have without ending in a championship.

The Golden Knights needed a jolt. Tortorella gave them one. Now, Vegas enters the offseason looking for the coach who can take over for the long haul.