Despite a late-season coaching switch, an ongoing controversy around that move, and hefty league penalties for violating media protocols during the postseason, the Golden Knights have reached the NHL Stanley Cup Final and are now trying to build a modern-day dynasty.
The Golden Knights completed a stunning Western Conference Final sweep Tuesday of the Avalanche, winner of the 2025-26 President’s Trophy winner and tied for the ninth-best regular season in NHL history. With that dismantling of Colorado, Vegas is now in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time since beginning as an expansion franchise in the 2017–18 season and are seeking their second championship in four seasons.
The emphatic nature of the Golden Knights’ playoff run, and the improbability of it, extends what has been a frenetic two months for the franchise. Since late March, the team has:
- Fired former head coach Bruce Cassidy, who led Vegas to the 2023 Stanley Cup title, and replaced him with John Tortortella, an NHL coaching veteran but most recently working as an on-air analyst for ESPN.
- Revived dramatically under Tortorella, as he has posted a 19-4-1 record since arriving, including the current run of six straight playoff victories. Tortorella, however, was also a central figure in Vegas skipping post-game media availability during the Western Conference Semifinals and a larger pattern by the team of violating NHL media policies. The league fined Tortortella $100,000 and docked the Golden Knights a second-round draft pick, with those penalties held up on appeal.
- Declined permission to other teams wishing to interview Cassidy about their coaching vacancies. The Golden Knights still owe Cassidy $4.5 million for the remaining year on his contract, a sum that could be reduced substantially if he were hired elsewhere. Vegas, however, is believed to be particularly concerned about the competitive implications of Cassidy going to a division rival such as Edmonton, Los Angeles, or Vancouver. The ongoing Cassidy situation sparked outcry from the NHL Coaches’ Association, which said last week that “it is our position that coaches who remain under contract, but are no longer working for their club, should not be prevented from pursuing other employment opportunities.”
Amid all that, the Golden Knights are also among the weakest teams to ever reach a Stanley Cup Final. With just 39 wins during the regular season, Vegas is the least-winningest franchise to play in the Final in an 82-game regular season since the 2002 Hurricanes. The Golden Knights also had fewer wins than six other teams this season that missed the playoffs.
Parallels to Basketball
The Golden Knights’ situation bears some similarity to that of the Knicks, which fired former head coach Tom Thibodeau last year, ate the $30 million owed to him, but are now in the NBA Finals and are sparking massive fan demand for upcoming games at Madison Square Garden.
Similar to Cassidy in Vegas, Thibodeau had plenty of success in New York, though without the league title that Cassidy has, and the Knicks’ coaching switch came with plenty of controversy.
The Knicks’ subsequent results, however, have been impossible to deny, and so, too, is the current run for the Golden Knights.
“You’re always thinking about it, right?” Tortorella said of personally returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since leading the 2004 Lightning. “That’s all we talk about as players and coaches. That’s why we stay in the business, is to get that opportunity to compete and go through.”
Vegas will play either the Hurricanes or Canadiens, with those teams currently battling in an Eastern Conference Final that Carolina leads two games to one.
