The Vegas Golden Knights were like a groom that had lost his way to the church. The wedding was in peril.
John Tortorella got the team back on track and all the way to the altar. In the end, the exchanging of vows went awry and the bride ended up in the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
But it was very close. Certainly closer than it would have been had GM Kelly McCrimmon not elected to make a coaching change with eight games left in the regular season and bring in Tortorella.
Let’s be entirely clear about this. The Golden Knights very well may have missed the playoffs had McCrimmon not made a change. The team was lost and unable to win games.
What happened next thoroughly validated the decision. Vegas went 7-0-1 under Tortorella to finish the regular season and clinch the top spot in the Pacific Division.
Next, they won three playoff rounds and came within two wins of the Stanley Cup.
Carolina deserves to be called champions and all that goes with it. The Stanley Cup is extremely hard to win. A lot of things which are out of a team’s control have to go the right way. Those things went the way of Vegas until the Final.
But injuries, missed opportunities, and tough bounces all went against the Golden Knights in the championship series. Flip those things around and the parade is in Nevada and not North Carolina. That is how close this team got and Tortorella played a role in it.
Vegas needed a change and a voice of confidence and Tortorella provided it. He was the man for the moment.
The veteran head coach brought positivity, honesty and support to the position, and he was extremely effective.
A talented roster, which had underachieved for portions of the season and completely lost its way down the regular season stretch, immediately responded to the new coach and his style. Vegas went a combined 21-8-1 under Tortorella between the regular season and playoffs. He provided the tonic which the players needed and almost won a Stanley Cup.
McCrimmon announced Tuesday, however, that the moment is over and Tortorella will not be returning for next season. McCrimmon and Tortorella had made an agreement to last as long as Vegas was in the playoffs and to evaluate the future when the time came.
Vegas has not yet named a new head coach. But, no doubt, McCrimmon has a plan which will be executed on his schedule.
Before McCrimmon does any work on next season’s roster, he has a list of players under contract which immediately make Vegas a contender.
Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson, Ivan Barbashev, Nic Dowd, Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden all return up front.
On the blueline, Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin, Brayden McNabb and Kaedan Korczak are set to be back.
Goalies Carter Hart and Adin Hill have deals as well.
Prospects Trevor Connelly, Braeden Bowman and Kai Uchacz have remaining term and all are expected to push for NHL work.
That’s a lot of really good players for whoever will be taking over behind the bench to lead in Vegas.
