John Tortorella and the Vegas Golden Knights are gearing up for a Western Conference Final showdown with the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his future beyond this season will remain in Sin City.
The veteran bench boss was hired to finish out the 2025-26 campaign, with no contract in place beyond it. His success in Vegas makes it more likely that he does stay, but until that becomes a certainty, all options remain on the table—including the possibility of becoming a candidate for the Edmonton Oilers’ head coaching opening.
Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman brought up the idea during a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
“I’ll tell you, I was listening to the end of Vegas-Anaheim on the radio and I was thinking if Vegas doesn’t keep John Tortorella, he might be a guy that fills kind of what they (the Oilers) want,”
The 67-year-old Tortorella went 7-0-1 after taking over as head coach of the Golden Knights to close out the regular season and has gone 8-4 so far this postseason, with a Stanley Cup now well within reach.
Edmonton is reportedly looking for a veteran coach who will be harder on its players than their recent hires, Kris Knoblauch and Jay Woodcroft, and Tortorella certainly fits that mold.
He’s undoubtedly a polarizing figure, but we’ve seen the jolt he’s provided a highly skilled Vegas team that was underperforming by its standards before his arrival. His demanding leadership style can clearly bring the best out of players.
Bruce Cassidy—or even Peter Laviolette or Craig Berube—remain more likely options, however, the fact that Friedman even mentioned Tortorella as a possibility is fascinating and something to monitor as the Oilers’ coaching search moves along.
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