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Around the NHL: Golden Knights fire Bruce Cassidy, John Tortorella named replacement; Kraken/McMann talking extension
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Photo credit: © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
Jeremy Tingly
Mar 30, 2026, 09:30 EDTUpdated: Mar 30, 2026, 09:25 EDT
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With only a couple of weeks left in the regular-season schedule, we’re getting down to crunch time around the NHL. The playoff races have bottlenecked in both conferences, and there’s a slew of teams battling it out for positioning, and a shot at winning the Stanley Cup.
Despite the regular season winding down, there’s been some shocking news around the league, as the entertainment level of the 2025-26 season hasn’t slowed down one bit, regardless of how many games are left in the regular season. Let’s cut to the chase, here’s the very latest from around the NHL:

Golden Knights fire Bruce Cassidy, name John Tortorella replacement

Fireworks on the Vegas strip. The Vegas Golden Knights announced Sunday, they’ve fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and didn’t waste any time naming John Tortorella his immediate replacement.
Cassidy spent four seasons with the Golden Knights, leading them to a record of 178-99-43 in 320 regular season games, which also included two 50-win seasons, and the franchise’s first Stanley Cup victory.
Unfortunately for Cassidy, the hockey club has been very inconsistent this season and it’s resulted in the veteran bench boss losing his job. The Golden Knights enter the week with a 32-26-16 record, with 80 points, sitting third in the Pacific Division. It’s not often a team in playoff position within only a couple of weeks left fires their head coach. Vegas owns a four-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings, who have a game in hand, and sit just one point behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild-card spot.
Tortorella makes the jump back behind an NHL bench, in what should be a very intriguing storyline to follow for the rest of this season, and hopefully for the Golden Knights, into the playoffs. Torts has spent 23 seasons as an NHL head coach, and most recently was with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2025. He ranks sixth all-time with 1,620 career games coached.
“With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup Champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL,” Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said in Sunday’s statement. “His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the pivotal point in the season we currently face. We look forward to welcoming John to Vegas.”

Seattle Kraken, Bobby McMann talking contract extension

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have let one slip away. Since being traded to the Seattle Kraken, Bobby McMann has been playing on another planet, elevating his game, and making a massive impact in all three zones. McMann’s appeared in eight games with Seattle, scoring seven goals and four assists, for 11 points.
McMann’s averaging 19:08 of ice-time per game, up almost four minutes from what Craig Berube was playing him in Toronto. The Kraken sit two points out of a playoff spot, with two games in hand on the Nashville Predators, and over the weekend, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the Kraken will try to avoid seeing McMann hit free agency July 1.
“I don’t think it’s gone very far down the road yet, but we’re under the impression that the Kraken have indicated to McMann that they would like to try and keep him,” stated Friedman during Saturday’s Headlines on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast Mar.28. “I don’t think the Maple Leafs and McMann ever got close (in extension talks), I still think there was quite a gap before he got traded to Seattle at the deadline. He’s been an excellent fit there, and they, at the very least have said, ‘Can we talk here and figure out where things might go?”

Quick hits from around the NHL

  • Philadelphia Flyers signed top prospect Porter Martone to a three-year, entry-level contract, and he’ll join the team for the remainder of the season.
  • Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas expects to play Monday night against the Maple Leafs, despite needing a walking boot recently to get around.
  • Speaking of the Ducks, the team is very likely trading Mason McTavish in the offseason and giving the young forward a new chapter in his career.
  • With the New Jersey Devils struggles, look for GM Tom Fitzgerald to try to move defenceman Dougie Hamilton, and forward Dawson Mercer this offseason, and shake up the core of their roster.
  •  Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill revealed that defenseman Artyom Levshunov suffered a fracture to his left hand last Tuesday against the New York Islanders, and likely will miss the rest of the season.
  • Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has taken over the NHL’s league lead in points with 124, three up on Tampa Bay Lightning Nikita Kucherov.
  • Montreal Canadiens’ Ivan Demidov enters the week leading all rookies in points with 57, one up on Beckett Sennecke and Matthew Schaefer.
  • If you’re starting to ponder offseason trades, you will want to keep your eyes on the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, and certainly the Devils.
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