44-year-old guided AHL affiliate past 3 seasons, previously was Vegas assistant
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Ryan Craig was named coach of the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old replaces John Tortorella after the Golden Knights announced Tuesday he would not be returning.
Craig was coach for Henderson of the American Hockey League the past three seasons. He joined Vegas’ coaching staff for its inaugural season in 2017-18 and was an assistant for six seasons, including during its Stanley Cup championship in 2023. He then was named Henderson coach.
“I believe I am ready for this,” Craig said Thursday. “I have had the pleasure of being in the organization for nine years. It’s been a privilege to work with the guys that I’ve been able to work with and I’ve mentored with, starting with Gerard Gallant, Mike Kelly, Ryan McGill through Steve Spott, Pete DeBoer, Bruce Cassidy. … I am ready for this opportunity. I am grateful for it. Ready to get to work. I feel that we have a very, very good hockey team in a very, very good city.”
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Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said his relationship with Craig, as well as the growth he’s seen in Craig as a coach, made the decision to promote him from the AHL an easy one.
Prior to his professional playing career, Craig spent parts of six seasons (1997-2003), including two seasons as team captain, with Brandon of the Western Hockey League while McCrimmon was GM.
“I’ve known him since he was 15 years old,” McCrimmon said. “… I’ve said to him many times, ‘Craiger,’ you are going to be a really good NHL head coach if you are not in a hurry and you need to do it in the proper steps.’ He’s done exactly that. He was a really important part of our staff, won the Stanley Cup, six years in our organization as an assistant coach under three real good head coaches. Good experience for him there. Then, for me, the real important step was to get head coaching experience himself. He was able to go down to Henderson with our organization and spent three years in Henderson.
“His time is now. … Our organization from Day One has always tried to hire the best people for the job, whether it’s our players or coaches. We’ve always hired the best available coach and that’s exactly what we’re doing today. We’re hiring the best available coach that’s going to lead our organization.”
Craig said the on-ice product in Vegas might not look much different from what had been installed under Cassidy, because it’s similar to the system he had been running Henderson.
“I believe in what we’re doing here. The players, I believe, believe in it,” he said. “They came two games away from winning the Stanley Cup. So there’ll be a few tweaks that will happen, and I’ll get into that as we dig into our team throughout the summer. … In ’23 we won with similar systems. I’ve coached it, I’ve lived it in Henderson, we ran similar systems. Our players know it, they believe in it. There is going to be a seamlessness in that transition. There will be some tweaks but I am excited to get with the group and put my stamp on them while continuing what’s been built here over the last few years.”
McCrimmon said no decision had been made regarding the rest of the coaching staff, a group that includes assistant coaches John Stevens, Dominique Ducharme and Joel Ward, director of goaltending/goaltending coach Sean Burke, skills development coach Sean Ferrell and video coach Dave Rogowski.
Selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the eighth round (No. 255) of the 2002 NHL Draft, Craig had 63 points (32 goals, 31 assists) in 198 regular-season games for the Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets and no points in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“Interestingly, (Tortorella) had Ryan Craig as a player,” McCrimmon said. “He’s got the same opinion of Ryan Craig that most people do. I know he was disappointed because he did want to coach our team next year, but I know also he’s got a lot of regard for Ryan and a lot of respect for him.”
Tortorella took over for Bruce Cassidy on March 29 with eight games remaining in the regular season. Vegas went 7-0-1 before a playoff run saw it advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
“We thank ‘Torts’ for the guidance he provided our team since joining the organization in March,” McCrimmon said. “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.”
In 24 seasons as a coach, Tortorella is 777-648-166 with 37 ties for the Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and the Golden Knights. He is 70-72 in the playoffs and won the Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004.
The Edmonton Oilers are the only NHL team without a coach.
NHL.com independent correspondent Paul Delos Santos contributed to this report
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