I’ve been covering Edmonton sports long enough to know that coaching changes this late in the season rarely happen without serious reason. When Vegas fired Bruce Cassidy with just eight games left and brought in John Tortorella, folks around Rogers Place certainly took notice.
Jack Roslovic has a front-row perspective on this whole situation. The Oilers forward played under Tortorella during that strange COVID season in Columbus back in 2020-21. When I think about Tortorella’s coaching style, Roslovic’s description makes perfect sense for anyone who’s watched the fiery coach over the years.
“He’s very honest,” Roslovic told reporters this week. “He has one expectation of you, and that’s to work every day.” That’s Tortorella in a nutshell, really. No fancy systems or complicated strategies. Just show up and put in the effort every single shift.
The timing of this Vegas coaching change is genuinely bizarre. The Golden Knights took their team photo last Saturday with Cassidy right there in the picture. Now they’ll presumably need to digitally swap in Tortorella’s face for the official 2025-2026 season photo. That’s got to feel awkward for everyone involved.
Tortorella isn’t exactly a stranger to the coaching carousel. This marks his sixth NHL team across 1,620 games behind the bench. He won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. He’s coached the Rangers, Canucks, Blue Jackets, and most recently the Flyers. Philadelphia let him go with nine games remaining last season, almost exactly a year before Vegas hired him.
The man clearly loves hockey too much to stay away. Roslovic joked about it during practice this week. “I think he just misses it,” the Oilers forward said with a smile. “He lives on a lot of land. Maybe he gets lonely, I don’t know what it is.”
Between his Flyers firing and this Vegas opportunity, Tortorella kept himself busy. He assisted Mike Sullivan coaching Team USA at the Olympics in Italy. He did some television work. But coaching is obviously in his blood. When Vegas came calling, he answered without hesitation.
For Roslovic, Tortorella’s direct approach wasn’t problematic during their time together in Columbus. “It’s very fair, it’s the same for everyone,” he explained. That consistency matters in a locker room. Players can handle tough coaching if they know the standards apply equally across the roster.
Kris Knoblauch understands coaching changes from both sides better than most. The Oilers head coach replaced Jay Woodcroft just thirteen games into the 2023-24 season. He knows what it’s like to step into a tough situation. But even Knoblauch seems surprised by the timing of Vegas’s move.
“First off, Bruce is a tremendous coach,” Knoblauch said Monday. “You look at his track record with the amount of winning he’s had.” Cassidy won a Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023. That buys you credibility and patience in most organizations. Apparently not enough in this case.
Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon explained the decision by saying the team had lost its spirit. The Golden Knights dropped nineteen of their last twenty-seven games heading into the coaching change. Goaltender Adin Hill’s struggles haven’t helped. Several pro scouts have also noticed Vegas playing slower than in previous seasons.
“Somewhere along the line we lost our spirit,” McCrimmon told media members. That’s a damning assessment of a team that won the Cup just two years ago. When your GM publicly questions the team’s competitive fire, something fundamental has broken down.
Tortorella held his first press conference Monday after accepting the Vegas job. His message was predictably straightforward. “Just like us to play faster,” he said. “It’s an easy word to say but I think that comes into mind-set too. We’ll pick away at it. I’m not going to overthink this.”
That’s vintage Tortorella coaching philosophy right there. Keep things simple. Work hard. Play fast. Don’t overthink the game. Whether that approach works with eight games left and possibly a playoff run ahead remains to be seen.
Knoblauch experienced immediate success after replacing Woodcroft in Edmonton. But he’s refreshingly honest about why that turnaround happened so quickly. “Every team is different,” he explained. “Sometimes players just need a little direction, a little change, a little more belief.”
Having Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your roster obviously helps too. Knoblauch didn’t explicitly say that, but everyone around the Oilers knows it’s true. Star players make coaching transitions smoother than they might otherwise be.
The Oilers will face Tortorella’s Vegas team Saturday night at Rogers Place. It’s the final regular-season meeting between these Pacific Division rivals. Depending on how the playoff picture shakes out, they could potentially meet again in the first round.
Roslovic recently hit the twenty-goal mark for Edmonton, sliding a shot under Lukas Dostal in last Saturday’s win over Anaheim. He’s scored three goals since Draisaitl went down with a knee injury. That production is exactly what the Oilers need from their depth forwards during this crucial stretch run.
The coaching fraternity in the NHL is small and tight-knit. Knoblauch would rather see every coach keep his job. But he also recognizes the reality of professional sports. “I assume they’ll change their style a little bit,” Knoblauch said about Vegas under Tortorella. “But with the players they have and with how much time is left in the season, I don’t know if it’ll change a whole lot.”
What Saturday’s game will reveal is whether Vegas responds to their new coach with renewed energy. Teams often get a temporary boost after coaching changes. Whether that boost lasts depends on countless factors. Chemistry, buy-in, personnel, and sometimes just plain luck.
Tortorella is getting paid minimal salary for this interim gig. He still has money coming from Philadelphia on his previous contract. This Vegas opportunity is essentially a low-risk audition for both sides. If it works, maybe he stays beyond this season. If not, both parties move on without major complications.
For Oilers fans, this whole situation adds an interesting storyline to Saturday’s game. Watching how Vegas responds to Tortorella will tell us plenty about both the team and the coach. Edmonton needs to stay focused on their own playoff positioning regardless of what’s happening across the bench.
The season’s winding down fast now. Every game carries playoff implications. Whether Tortorella can spark Vegas in time to make a difference remains the big question. Roslovic certainly isn’t surprised to see his former coach back in action. Nobody who knows Tortorella well would be.
