Golden Knights Fire Bruce Cassidy, Name New HC

The Vegas Golden Knights have terminated Bruce Cassidy, with John Tortorella to take over as the team’s head coach.

This move comes as a late-season change, announced on March 29 as the Golden Knights currently sit with 80 points in the Pacific Division and are pushing for a playoff spot across a 32-26-16 overall record. Tortorella has served as a head coach in the NHL for a total of 23 seasons, most recently with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2022-25. He has coached in 1,620 NHL games, which ranks sixth all-time and first among coaches born in the United States. His 770 wins stand as the second-most for American coaches and ninth among all NHL head coaches.

In NHL postseason games, Tortorella’s teams have earned an additional 56 wins as part of 12 different trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His clubs earned a division title on three different occasions (2002-03, 2003-04, 2011-12), made two appearances in the conference finals (2003-04, 2011-12), and one in the Stanley Cup Final (2003-04).

“We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons,” said Vegas 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.”

Golden Knights Make Late Season HC Change

Tortorella is a Boston, MA native and recently served as an assistant coach for the United States in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in which he helped lead the American men to their first gold medal since 1980. Tortorella was also on USA Hockey’s coaching staff as an assistant for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and as head coach at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in addition to the 2008 International Ice HF Men’s World Championship.

This latest leadership change comes the same day as IIHF President Luc Tardif announcing he will not be running for re-election.

The now-Vegas head coach earned his name on the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 for the first time in his career and was also named the winner of the Jack Adams Award that year.

Philadelphia Flyers, USA Hockey, Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella — Apr 11, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images | Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Tortorella is to take over behind the Vegas bench immediately. The Golden Knights next host the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on March 30.

Under Cassidy, the Golden Knights were 3-5-2 in their past 10 games and are third in the Pacific Division with only eight regular-season games remaining as Vegas looks to earn a spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

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