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Tortorella is now back behind an NHL bench after 367 days away. He was fired<\/a> late in his third season with the Philadelphia Flyers, on Mar. 27, 2025.<\/p>\n All told, the Boston native has 1,620 games of NHL coaching experience with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks. That puts him sixth all-time among NHL coaches and fourth among active coaches behind Paul Maurice of the Florida Panthers (2,003 games), Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres (1,930 games) and Joel Quenneville of the Anaheim Ducks (1,841 games).<\/p>\n Tortorella guided the Lightning to their franchise\u2019s first-ever Stanley Cup win in 2004 and got the Rangers to the Cup Final in 2012 before they fell to the Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Cassidy, 60, leaves Vegas after nearly four full seasons. In his first year with the team, he took the Golden Knights to their first-ever Stanley Cup win in 2023 but has failed to recapture that same magic. Vegas went out in the first round in 2024 and the second round last season.<\/p>\n Even more concerning, the team that famously reached the Stanley Cup Final in its first year after expansion in 2018 and has only missed the playoffs once in its eight-year franchise history is currently clinging to a playoff spot in the weak Pacific Division. With a record of 32-26-16 for 80 points in 74 games, the Golden Knights\u2019 current .541 points percentage is actually lower than the .573 that caused their post-season miss<\/a> in 2021-22 and led to Cassidy\u2019s hiring.<\/p>\n Bruce Cassidy took the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup win less than one year after he was hired in the summer of 2022. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n Can Tortorella fix this? Despite Vegas\u2019s record, many of their underlying metrics remain strong this season. They\u2019re 10th in shots on goal per game (28.6) but 15th in goals scored per game (3.12). Their special teams are excellent: the power play ranks fourth and the penalty kill is sixth. And they\u2019re tied for second-fewest shots allowed per game (24.3) but are tied for 19th in goals allowed (3.07).<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n That points to the primary issue this season: inconsistent goaltending.<\/p>\n Akira Schmid has been the most reliable option. In a team-leading 34 appearances, he\u2019s 16-10-6 with an .893 save percentage. But the 25-year-old has been used sparingly since the Olympic break \u2014 his last win came back on Feb. 4. He\u2019s also relatively unproven in the post-season, with just 10 appearances to his name.<\/p>\n After his stellar performance in the 2023 playoffs, Adin Hill has taken a step backward. This season, the 29-year-old missed nearly three months of action with a lower-body injury. When he has been in the lineup, he has been average at best. He\u2019s 9-9-5 for the year and just 4-6-2 in the month of March, with an .867 save percentage as the Golden Knights have been trying to get ready for post-season competition.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n While Hill was sidelined, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon attempted to shore up his netminding by bringing in Carter Hart<\/a> after he was reinstated by the league following sexual assault charges from a 2018 incident when he was part of Canada\u2019s world junior championship team.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old went 5-3-3 with an .871 save percentage before suffering a lower-body injury in January.<\/p>\n Vegas is tight-lipped with injury information so it\u2019s not yet clear when Hart will return. When he does, he\u2019ll be reunited with Tortorella. Originally drafted in the second round by the Flyers in 2016, Hart played two seasons under Tortorella in Philadelphia before taking a leave of absence in January of 2024 ahead of his charges in the sexual assault case.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n With Tortorella as his coach, Hart was 34-32-13 in 81 games played, with a .907 save percentage and 2.90 goals-against average.<\/p>\n Changing Of The Guard<\/p>\n Vegas has always been aggressive when pursuing roster upgrades, and this season has been no different. Last summer, McCrimmon reeled in one of the biggest free-agent fish when he traded for the rights to Mitch Marner<\/a>, then signed him to an eight-year contract extension at $12 million per season. In January, the team completed a long-expected deal with the Calgary Flames to bring in defenseman Rasmus Andersson and at the trade deadline, Vegas shored up its playoff depth with forwards Cole Smith and Nic Dowd.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But some holes remain glaring. Original Golden Misfit William Karlsson, who plays a key role at center, has been sidelined since early November and there\u2019s still no word on whether he\u2019ll be fit to return this season. And defensive stalwart Alex Pietrangelo, who was an anchor on the blue line, is on season-ending injured reserve. The two-time Cup winner has one more year remaining on his contract, but his career could be over at age 36.<\/p>\n Competition Intensifying<\/p>\n As of Sunday night, the Golden Knights currently sit third in the Pacific Division \u2014 three points behind the Edmonton Oilers and four up on the Los Angeles Kings. According to MoneyPuck<\/a>, their odds of making the playoffs are strong, at 84.7 percent.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The issue is, \u2018What happens after that?\u2019 At the moment, their first-round opponent would be the battle-tested Oilers, who haven\u2019t let weak regular-season positioning stand in their way as they\u2019ve bulldozed through to the Stanley Cup Final in both of the past two years. The Golden Knights are also 0-2-1 against the Oilers this season, most recently losing 4-3 in overtime on home ice last Thursday. Tortorella will get his opportunity to change that narrative next Saturday in Edmonton, in the teams\u2019 final meeting of the season.<\/p>\n![\"Bruce](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/730841e2cd074d9ba7f19cccbcb8eab7.jpeg\"\/)
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