The team announced on Tuesday that the veteran head coach will not be returning after leading them to a Stanley Cup Final appearance this season.
Tortorella joined the Golden Knights in March, taking over for Bruce Cassidy.
“We thank Torts for the guidance he provided our team since joining the organization in March,” said Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon in a statement released by the team. “When the decision was made to bring Torts to Vegas, we needed an immediate impact to help us at a pivotal point in the season. Torts’ experience and leadership proved to be the boost that we were looking for, helping guide us to the Stanley Cup Final. We are grateful for Torts’ passion, sincerity, and commitment to our organization, and we wish him and his family the best.”
Vegas made the unorthodox move to replace Cassidy with Tortorella during the final weeks of the regular season, hoping the 24-year bench boss could pick the team up after it had been stumbling toward the finish line — having lost six of its last seven games before the coaching swap.
Tortorella led the Golden Knights to a 7-0-1 finish and then on a run to the franchise’s third Cup Final. Vegas went on to lose the championship series against the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
It’ll be just the third time in his career spending one season or less with a team. The 67-year-old began his NHL head coaching career by taking over the New York Rangers with just four games left in the 1999-2000 season and later spent just one year helming the Vancouver Canucks in 2013-14.
Tortorella is 777-648-37 through 1,628 regular-season games spent with six franchises. His playoff is 70-72-0.
As for the Golden Knights, they began the search for the franchise’s fifth head coach ahead of its milestone 10th NHL season.
