John Tortorella took over the Vegas Golden Knights with eight games left in the regular season and guided them all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Now the question is whether he’ll be back for a full season behind the bench.

After a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, Tortorella deflected a question about his future, saying he needs to “swallow this a little bit.” But the 68-year-old coach, who has 1,628 regular-season games on his resume — most among American-born NHL coaches — has a strong case to return.

Under Tortorella, the Golden Knights went 7-1 down the stretch to clinch a playoff spot, then swept the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final as a plus-225 underdog. Backup goaltender Carter Hart, who hadn’t played in three months, became the starter in the playoffs and posted a .922 save percentage and 2.3 goals-against average through the first three rounds.

“He was awesome,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “Coming in, I felt like he really brought a change going into the postseason. I think – yeah, he’s been great.”

Captain Mark Stone said Tortorella’s arrival provided a “reset” for a team that had gone stale under former coach Bruce Cassidy. “We were playing some good hockey the last three, four weeks, it’s just we didn’t have that extra juice,” Stone said in April. “Maybe that could be a little added aggression to keeping the puck alive or get in someone’s face.”

Tortorella’s postseason run ended just short of a championship, but he earned the respect of his players. “I feel very fortunate how this all came about in just kind of a weird way at the end of the year,” he said. “And then to get locked in with these guys, I feel very fortunate to get to know the team. Get to know the organization. And just a first-class organization.”

The Golden Knights have a veteran group that responded to Tortorella’s voice. Running it back for 2026-27 seems like the logical move.