The Vegas Golden Knights named Ryan Craig as the team’s fifth head coach in franchise history on Wednesday.
The news came one day after Vegas announced that John Tortorella would not return as the bench boss. The Golden Knights’ season ended Sunday with a Game 6 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final.
Craig, 44, served as an assistant coach with the Golden Knights for six seasons before spending the past three campaigns as the head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights, the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate.
The Silver Knights’ win total increased from 28 in 2023-24 to 29 the following season to 39 in 2025-26. The club fell to the Colorado Eagles in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs this past season.
Craig, a forward, recorded 63 points (32 goals, 31 assists) in 198 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets. He was selected by the Lightning in the eighth round of the 2002 NHL Draft.
Craig also played five seasons for the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings, where Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon was the team’s owner and GM.
Tortorella was hired on March 29 after Vegas abruptly fired head coach Bruce Cassidy with eight games remaining in the regular season. Under Tortorella, the Golden Knights finished 7-0-1 to win the Pacific Division title.
Vegas rode that momentum and dispatched both the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in six games during the first two rounds of the playoffs before sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final.
