Alignment is something organizations are in continual search of and it is not easily found. Ownership, management and the coaching staff must be on the same path and in agreement upon how to travel it.
Kelly McCrimmon and Ryan Craig are aligned. They have been for almost 20 years since McCrimmon drafted him to play for his Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League.
The two have had a long association and have built a relationship steeped in respect and trust.
Vegas named Craig the fifth head coach in team history on Wednesday. In Craig they are getting a young but experienced coach. A man who can teach and communicate. Craig will hold the respect of the players, his bosses and everyone in the organization. He’s done it the right way and taken no shortcuts. Six seasons as an NHL assistant and three as an AHL head coach, he’s a culture fit for the Golden Knights and a coach who knows his strengths. Craig is a positive person and very sure of himself and his ways without a hint of arrogance. He's an original Golden Knight and has earned the Vegas Born label.
McCrimmon naming Craig as the next head coach of the Golden Knights does feel a touch predestined. The 44-year-old Craig was always going to coach for a McCrimmon managed team. It’s just going to be in Las Vegas rather than Brandon, Manitoba.
During a period when McCrimmon was holding down the owner, GM and coach chairs in Brandon, he mused that he didn’t want to coach on a permanent basis. A nosy reporter (yes, it was me) asked McCrimmon who would be the next coach of the Wheat Kings.
“Ryan Craig, whenever he retires from playing,” answered McCrimmon.
Craig was still playing professionally at the time. And when he did retire, McCrimmon played a role in his first coaching job – it just wasn’t with the Wheat Kings.
Craig played pro for 14 seasons with 198 games at the NHL level. He was captain of the Lake Erie Monsters when they won the Calder Cup in the spring of 2016.
Late in the summer of 2017-18 with McCrimmon now in Vegas, an opening came up on Gerard Gallant’s inaugural season staff, and Craig’s name came up. He proved a perfect fit and worked under Gallant, Pete DeBoer and Bruce Cassidy.
Craig was a member of the Stanley Cup winning staff in 2022-23 before accepting the head coach position with the organization’s AHL club in Henderson.
Craig now has nine seasons of coaching under his belt including the last three as the top guy with the Silver Knights.
Craig will have a unique grasp and relationship with the players in the VGK dressing room. For those that were on the Cup winning team, he’s been in the trenches with them and they know who he is as a person and a coach. For those that have worked with him in the AHL, he’s played a role in their development and arrival in the NHL.
Having had the chance to work with three different NHL coaches, as well as the opportunity to learn from McCrimmon, George McPhee and Silver Knights GM Tim Speltz, gives Craig a deep pool of hockey knowledge to draw upon.
A captain with four different AHL teams as well as with the Wheat Kings during his junior days, Craig is a both a natural leader and one with experience who has had the opportunity to test out his approach.
Players in Henderson raved about his approach, saying he was relatable as well as having the ability to hold players accountable.
Craig inherits a roster with leadership and elite talent. A team possessing Stanley Cup pedigree and high-end players, some of which are still looking for their first NHL championship.
Before McCrimmon does any work on next season’s roster, the list of players under contract immediately makes 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, as are goalies Carter Hart and Adin Hill.
Prospects Trevor Connelly, Braeden Bowman and Kai Uchacz, who all saw success under Craig in Henderson, have remaining term and all are expected to push for NHL work.
