The Vegas Golden Knights have fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with John Tortorella, the team announced Sunday, a stunning move with just eight games left in the regular season.

Cassidy, who led the Knights to the Stanley Cup in 2023, becomes the winningest coach in franchise history to be dismissed midseason. The decision comes as Vegas has lost six of seven games and sits third in the Pacific Division, with a 5-10-2 record since the Winter Olympic break.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon, who constructed the roster, opted not to fire the players. “We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons,” McCrimmon said in a statement. “Under Bruce’s leadership, we reached our ultimate goal in 2023 by bringing a Stanley Cup to Vegas. Bruce will forever be remembered with the utmost regard by our organization for what was accomplished here. With the stretch run of the 2025-26 regular season upon us, we believe that a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play that is expected of our club.”

The move is the latest in a pattern of aggressive changes by the Knights when they sense a Stanley Cup is out of reach. In 2022, they traded Marc-Andre Fleury in a similar shake-up. But firing a Cup-winning coach this late in the season is unprecedented for the franchise.

Tortorella, known for his fiery demeanor and defensive systems, takes over with little time to implement changes. The Knights face the Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. The team has struggled with goal scoring and goaltending, and Tortorella will need to quickly address both. “The tenor within the room will be far different with Tortorella running things than with Cassidy,” said columnist Ed Graney. “It will be interesting to see how some, especially veteran, established players, respond to him.”

If the gamble pays off and Vegas makes a deep playoff run, the firing will be forgotten. If not, it will be remembered as a desperate move that backfired.