Gordon: Tortorella should coach the Golden Knights next year if he wants to

John Tortorella sat cross-armed Sunday at the postgame dais inside T-Mobile Arena, his Vegas Golden Knights beaten for good, but his spirit vibrant, his will intact.

In two short months under his timely watch with more losses than wins in the regular season, they rallied their way to the Stanley Cup.

Yes, they’d lost.

But he wasn’t defeated.

“I like the team,” said Tortorella, a Stanley Cup champion in 2004, when his slicked-back mane, now greyed with wisdom, bore its natural dark brown hue. Then the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and since the coach of the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers, he summoned a smile.

“It’s a good group of guys,” Tortorella continued an hour after their 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes through his matching grey beard in a white quarter-zip with the Golden Knights logo and a depiction of the Cup.

“Driven, as I’ve said experienced. They’re good pros. It’s a really good team.”

That he deserves to coach if he wants to in 2026-27.

Players backing Tortorella

Tortorella brushed off a question about his future with the Golden Knights, noting he has to “swallow this a little bit,” referring to their Game 6 loss to Carolina. But if he wants to at 68 with 1,628 regular-season games to his ledger – tops in NHL history among American coaches – then Vegas brass should grant him the chance to lead their team through an 82-game season.

“He was awesome,” Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said of Tortorella postgame Sunday in the locker room. “Coming in, I felt like he really brought a change going into the postseason. I think – yeah, he’s been great.”

With eight games left in the regular season and the Golden Knights drawing dead under former coach Bruce Cassidy, they adopted Tortorella’s trademark toughness and embarked on an unlikely playoff run. Cassidy wore out his welcome, making Tortorella’s calming and trusting voice welcome for a veteran group that need a jolt. His hardened exoskeleton notwithstanding.

Lest we remember it’s not important for Tortorella to cure the favor of those who don’t skate. It is important to connect with his players, and that’s what he did in two short months.

“It was a bit of a reset for us,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said in April, precisely the point of Cassidy’s dismissal. Tortorella encouraged aggression, resonating with the Golden Knights, who won seven of their last eight regular-season games to clinch their spot in Western Conference playoffs.

“We were a little stale,” Stone said. “We just weren’t getting over the top, I guess. We were playing some good hockey the last three, four weeks, it’s just we didn’t have that extra juice.

“Maybe that could be a little added aggression to keeping the puck alive or get in someone’s face.”

The call on Hart

Tortorella also had the sense to turn in the playoffs to backup goaltender Carter Hart, who won his last seven regular-season starts in spite of a three-month stint of inactivity. Going to Hart and sticking with Hart – who found his mojo at the perfect time – is what propelled the Stanley Cup run.

Though Hart didn’t hold up against Carolina — allowing four goals in each of the first five games — his play between the pipes in the first three rounds (saving 92.2 percent of opposing shots with a 2.3 goals-against average) is a reflection of Tortorella’s instincts, feel and longstanding coaching convictions.

Sweeping the Colorado Avalanche as a plus-225 underdog in the Western Conference Final last month rates among the franchise’s crowning achievements. It’s worth remembering Carolina was favored to win the Stanley Cup matchup, having led the Eastern Conference in points with the league’s second-best offense and fifth-best defense.

Coaching isn’t what decided the outcome, but rather what made the matchup happen.

“I feel very fortunate how this all came about in just kind of in a weird way at the end of the year,” Tortorella said. “And then to get locked in with these guys, I feel very fortunate to get to know the team. Get to know the organization. And just a first-class organization.

“I wanted to coach. I want to coach. To jump into this with this gang, I feel so fortunate.”

So, too, do the Golden Knights — so run it back for another year. A veteran team needs a veteran voice. Tortorella’s voice.

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.