- Ryan Craig has never been an NHL head coach and takes over a Stanley Cup finalist
- Kelly McCrimmon says Adin Hill is going to bounce back after a rough regular season
- Read below for what Vegas is asking of its new bench boss before camp opens
Vegas is handing a Stanley Cup finalist to a coach who has never run an NHL bench.
Ryan Craig gets the Golden Knights for their 10th season, three months after John Tortorella took the job with eight games left and pushed them within two wins of a title. Craig was asked how much of the Vegas system he plans to keep, and he told NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika that he is not tearing anything down.
“I’ve coached it. I’ve lived it. In Henderson, we ran similar systems. Our players know it. They believe in it, so there’s going to be a seamlessness in that transition. There will be some tweaks, but I’m excited to get with the group and put my stamp on them.”
Training camp opens Sept. 16, and the 44-year-old is not hiding how he feels about it. Catch his sit-down with Gary Lawless:
He has been in the building since the beginning. Six seasons as a Vegas assistant, a Stanley Cup ring in 2023, then three years running Henderson in the AHL. Craig watched the club fire Bruce Cassidy in March and then move on from Tortorella days after the Final ended.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon was asked what the group heading into camp looks like compared to the one that lost Game 6 to Carolina.
“I really like our team. It’s going to look different, which it does every year. That’s our business. But I think, over time, we’ve always had a really good understanding of what the team needs to look like in order to have a chance to win.”
The biggest hole is Pavel Dorofeyev. He led Vegas in goals in each of the past two seasons with 35 and then 37, added 12 more in the playoffs, and got shipped to the Rangers in June for two first-round picks and a third. Victor Olofsson arrives as one answer.
McCrimmon has seen this before. He brought up Jonathan Marchessault walking to Nashville after the 2023 Cup run, which is the opening Dorofeyev stepped into.
“You wondered how you would ever replace a guy like that, and it provided the opportunity for ‘Pav.’ That’s how Pavel got his opportunity.”
Goaltending is the other one worth watching. Carter Hart was the only goalie Vegas used in the playoffs, while Adin Hill sat after going 10-9-6 with a 3.04 goals-against average and an .871 save percentage. Per NHL.com’s inside look at the roster, McCrimmon is leaving the crease decisions to Craig and goalie coach Sean Burke, and he is not writing Hill off.
“I think Adin is going to bounce back. I think he’s a good goalie who had a tough season. We need him to revert to form. We expect that he will.”
Here is the full press conference from the day McCrimmon handed Craig the job:
Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Shea Theodore are all still here. Craig runs his first NHL practice on Sept. 16.
