LAS VEGAS (AP) — After having previously hired established head coaches, the Vegas Golden Knights this time stayed within the organization and promoted Ryan Craig on Wednesday from its American Hockey League affiliate in suburban Henderson.
Craig, 44, replaces John Tortorella, who was hired with eight games left in the regular season and led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final before they lost in six games to Carolina. The club announced Tuesday
that Tortorella wouldn't be returning, creating immediate speculation that Craig would be promoted.
He was the Silver Knights' coach the past three seasons. Henderson went 39-21-12 this season and advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Craig, who will address reporters on Thursday, has been in the Golden Knights organization all nine seasons, including the first six years with the top club. He was behind the bench when Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023 under Bruce Cassidy.
“He’s ready to be an NHL head coach," Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. "That carried the day.”
Craig takes over a team with high expectations, especially coming off a deep playoff run, and in an organization not known for its patience.
He is the fifth coach in the organization's short history and third this calendar year. Considering Craig remained in the organization through so much turnover speaks to management's belief in his abilities.
They could have handed Craig the job when Cassidy was fired, but instead chose the veteran Tortorella.
“Torts, very experienced, very comfortable in his own skin, very much was going to come in and hit the ground running,” McCrimmon said. “I don't feel it would have been fair to Ryan Craig to start his career as a (NHL) head coach in that way. The other part, Henderson was having a really good year. He was doing a great job as a coach of that team. We felt that the finish of the Henderson season is also really important for Ryan's development to coach in the American League playoffs.”
Tortorella guided Vegas from third to first in the Pacific Division and three postseason series victories that included a sweep Colorado, which had won the Presidents' Trophy.
The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead in the final before the Hurricanes closed it out by winning three games in a row.
“He saved our season," McCrimmon said. "He turned our team around. Our players loved playing for him and it was a tremendous 30 games that he coached for our organization. John wanted to coach our team again this year. He wants to coach. We really wanted to give this opportunity to Ryan Craig.”
Forward Mitch Marner, the team's prized acquisition from Toronto last offseason, spoke after sweeping the Avalanche about going through “dark times” with the Maple Leafs.
He was asked during the exit interviews with reporters to expand on that comment.
“I've been trying to take care of mental health for probably the last five years or so," Marner said. "I'm really thankful that I had some unbelievable teammates around me in Toronto that I was able to talk to, express myself. My family, my brother, my mom, dad, my wife, there were some really dark moments there that the thought if playing hockey was really tough in a lot of ways.”
The Golden Knights acquired Marner in a sign-and-trade. He grew up in the Toronto area as a Maple Leafs fan, but often was blamed for the team's disappointing playoff results.
Marner's led all skaters in this year's playoffs with 29 points and likely would have been awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy had the Golden Knights won the Cup.
“I think it's always important to check in on your friends, your family, people around you,” Marner said. “I think it's something in this day and age now gets talked about a lot, but still gets overlooked in a lot of ways. I think a lot of us are addicted to the social media aspect of things. You see a lot of comments, a lot of things about yourself. I tried to check myself out of that in the last two or three years.”
Center William Karlsson was scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday for a broken wrist. He was injured in Game 5 of the Cup Final.
Defenseman Noah Hanifin played through an upper-body injury that McCrimmon said would have taken him out of the regular season for up to two months.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb wore a cage to protect his face after taking a puck in Game 2 at Carolina.
“(McNabb) had two other injuries that probably would have kept any player out of the lineup that he played through in the playoffs, which is just more testament to the warrior that he is for our organization,” McCrimmon said.
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