Posted on: March 30, 2026, 04:16h.
Last updated on: March 30, 2026, 04:17h.
Vegas Golden Knights fire head coach Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in regular season Knights 5-10-2 in last 17 games, one of the NHL’s worst records John Tortorella takes over as coach after serving as assistant coach with USA men’s gold medal Olympic hockey teamThe hockey world is still spinning after the Vegas Golden Knights fired their head coach, Bruce Cassidy, yesterday, replacing him with John Tortorella with just eight games left in the regular season.
Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights makes a save against Ryan Leonard of the Washington Capitals as Ben Hutton #17 and Noah Hanifin #15 of the Golden Knights defend in their game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday in Las Vegas. (Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Latest Betting Lines
Such a move this late in the season is almost unheard of in NHL circles. This is the latest head coaching change for a team that’s playoff bound since 2006-07 when the New Jersey Devils fired Claude Julien. Then there was a move buried in the history books – Devils GM Lou Lamoriello firing Robbie Ftorek with eight games to go in 2000 and replacing him with Larry Robinson. The Devils won the Stanley Cup that year.
Once again, the Cassidy move shows the Golden Knights are cut throat when it comes to winning. If you are a player and you think you are going to the Vegas Golden Knights for casinos, palm trees, swimming pools and some vacation time you will be sorely mistaken.
The organization spends to the salary cap every year and is always right there at the NHL trade deadline, and on NHL free agency day in July – near the front of the line, check book in hand, elbows up. They’re big game hunters. Las Vegas has five players who played in the Canada-USA gold medal Olympic hockey game in February on their roster right now – Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore, and Noah Hanifin.
Goaltending the Issue
Still, the Golden Knights, since they returned from the Olympic break on Feb. 25 in a game against the L.A. Kings, have gone 5-10-2, one of the worst records in the NHL over that span. Las Vegas has had among the worst goaltending in the league since the break – a .867% save percentage (second last in the NHL). Plus the Golden Knights have never replaced stud defenceman Alex Pietrangelo, currently on long-term disability.
So the Cassidy firing is a pressure move all the way, factoring in the money they spend on players in Las Vegas. Vegas has lost its last three games, and six of its last seven. They are only four points ahead of the L.A. Kings for the last divisional playoff spot, and the Kings have a game in hand.
Making hard decisions on good people is the nature of the job,” said Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon on TSN’s Overdrive today. “Just the energy of our team didn’t seem to be where it needs to be when we’re at our best, when we’re on our toes, when we’re aggressive. It just really felt like that had sort of disappeared for us a little bit. John has had success. He is direct and honest, keeps people accountable. I think he will give our team a spark.”
Tortorella won’t be changing any systems, altering the way the Golden Knights play.
“There isn’t time to be re-inventing the wheel,” McCrimmon said on Overdrive. “I don’t like our goaltending, but I like our goaltenders. They need to be better. Adin (Hill) won a Stanley Cup (in 2023). I know he can do it because I have seen him do it.”
Tough on Players
Anyone who follows the NHL the past two decades are very familiar with Tortorella. Brash, fiery – there were the memorable verbal jousts with late hockey writer Larry Brooks of the New York Post, when Tortorella was the Rangers coach.
Tortorella, who has been an NHL head coach with five teams, including winning a Cup in 2006 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, has a reputation of starting strong then his players start to tune him out. He is tough on players and grinds some guys, but he also lets his best players play, a lot. So this move should be good news for players like Marner and Eichel, as well as Ivan Barbashev, and Stone.
Last year, when he was coaching the Philadelphia Flyers, there were media reports of a non-physical dressing room confrontation with defenceman Cam York, which led to Tortorella’s dismissal. York was complimentary of Tortorella after the coach was fired, however.
Pillow Fight
Those last eight games for the Golden Knights include two against the Vancouver Canucks – the worst team in the NHL. That starts tonight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the Golden Knights solid betting favourites at -360, the Canucks +285. As Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers said last week – the Pacific Division is a pillow fight, with six points separating the first place Anaheim Ducks (41-28-4, for 86 points), second place Edmonton (37-28-9-83) and the third place Golden Knights (32-26-16-80). No one in that division is scaring anyone.
At BetMGM, the Vegas Golden Knights odds to win the Stanley Cup at the Olympic break in early February was +900. Since the Olympic break, odds to win the Cup are +1400, with no movement after Cassidy was fired yesterday.
At DraftKings, the Golden Knights are +1500 now to win the Cup, after the Colorado Avalanche are +290, Lightning +450, Carolina Hurricanes +450, Dallas Stars +1000, Oilers +1200, then the Buffalo Sabres at +1500.
At FanDuel, the Golden Knights are +1500 now to win the Cup, after the Avalanche are +310, Lightning +360, Hurricanes +500, Stars +1100, Oilers +1400.
However if the goaltending continues as badly as it has it won’t matter if Scotty Bowman is the head coach.
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