Vegas may have already chosen John Tortorella's replacement behind closed doors

John Tortorella's planned Vegas exit has Ryan Craig looming as the next bench option.

That is the angle picking up steam while the Stanley Cup Final is still going. Tortorella said his Vegas run was always set to end in late June, and that changes the whole feel around the bench.

Once that became public, Ryan Craig was always going to move near the front of the discussion. He is already in the organization, already knows the room, and already fits the kind of clean handoff Kelly McCrimmon could want.

Craig is not some outside flyer. The Henderson Silver Knights list him as their head coach, and 2025-26 was his third season in that job.

That matters because Vegas is not sitting in rebuild mode. The Golden Knights finished 39-26-17 for 95 points, so this is still a team looking for continuity, not a full reset.

Tortorella's short run only sharpened that. He took Vegas to the Final on a temporary agreement, and now the organization has to decide whether the smartest play is keeping the next voice close to home.

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A major behind-the-scenes development may have revealed Vegas' next coach

The cleanest part is the internal track. Vegas announced Craig as Henderson's head coach on June 26, 2023, after he had already spent 6 seasons as an assistant with the Golden Knights.

That gives him real credibility inside the building. He knows how Vegas wants to play, knows the development side, and would not need a long runway to settle into the NHL chair.

There is also a front-office logic to it. McCrimmon would not be handing the team to somebody learning the organization on the fly. He would be promoting a coach who has already been in the room for years.

The roster makes that even more appealing. Jack Eichel had 90 points in 74 games, and the core is built to chase right now, not spend months adjusting to a completely different voice.

That does not lock Craig into the job. Vegas can still look outside, and Tortorella's Final run probably makes the opening more attractive around the league.

But the internal read is easy to understand. If Vegas wants the least disruptive move after Tortorella, Ryan Craig checks a lot of boxes before the interview process even starts.

That is why this rumor has legs. The Golden Knights may still be playing for the Cup, but the outline of their next bench move already looks a lot less blurry.

Source : Vegas may already know who replaces John Tortorella

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