“I have to swallow this (loss) first”: Golden Knights’ John Tortorella on coaching future

The Vegas Golden Knights saw their season come to an end with a 3-0 loss in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.

While the biggest questions looming over key figures whose contracts are set to expire usually center around players, for the Knights, the status of head coach John Tortorella is unclear at this time.

Tortorella was hired late in the regular season after the team dismissed Bruce Cassidy and signed to a contract that ran only this year. After falling short in the pursuit of his second Stanley Cup championship, the veteran coach was not ready to declare his intentions for next season.

“I haven’t even…I have to swallow this (loss) first,” Tortorella said about his coaching future with the Golden Knights.

“I feel very fortunate how this all came about, just kind of in a weird way at the end of the year, and then to get locked in with these guys,” Tortorella added.. “I feel very fortunate to get to know the team, get to know the organization, a first-class organization, and just have the opportunity… I wanted to coach. And to jump into this with this gang, I feel so fortunate.”

Tortorella took over and promptly guided a turnaround from a team whose season was circling the drain to one that claimed the Pacific Division title.

The Knights then dispatched the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in the first two rounds before pulling off a shocking sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

Vegas seemed to run out of gas as the Stanley Cup Final wore on, but Tortorella has deep belief in the ability of the core group to pick itself up and get right back into the mix for the Cup next season.

“I don’t think that this team here, this group of men need an extra something to fuel them,” Tortorella said. “I think they get it. I know we’re on the wrong end of it here. But I just feel that’s a strong room. I’m anxious to see what happens next year because it has another chance. It’s such a good room and such a strong room. I don’t think they need anything extra to get them going.”

For the Golden Knights, this year marked the third appearance in a Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons of existence. Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023 with many of the same players that still form the current core.