Ryan Craig has spent years building toward this shot, and the Golden Knights are handing him the keys at a moment when the job is anything but simple.
On June 18, Craig was named the fifth head coach in Vegas Golden Knights history, stepping in after a season that ended two wins short of another Stanley Cup title. The timing mattered. Vegas had just fallen in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, and there was barely a pause before a new voice was expected to take over.
Craig has lived enough hockey to recognize that kind of transition. He joined the Golden Knights in their inaugural 2017 season as an assistant coach, stayed through six seasons, and was on the bench when the franchise won its first Stanley Cup. After that, he spent three seasons running the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate in Henderson, where he shaped his own approach as a head coach.
Now he returns to Vegas with the top job.
Before coaching, Craig spent 14 years grinding through a playing career that included 198 NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, plus 711 games in the AHL. He also wore the captain’s letter on nine teams, among them the 2015-16 Lake Erie Monsters, who won the Calder Cup.
His path started even earlier with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League. Kelly McCrimmon, now the Golden Knights’ general manager, was then the team’s owner and general manager. Craig twice led Brandon in scoring, served as captain for two seasons and earned a spot on the WHL East First All-Star Team.
That connection eventually carried forward to the NHL.
Once his playing days were over, Craig faced the question every pro eventually runs into: what comes next?
“Are you sure you’re done?” was one of the questions he heard most often.
He was ready to move on from playing, but not from hockey. Coaching became the next step, and it came with the benefit of having lived in locker rooms, played for a range of coaches and learned what resonated.
When asked what his younger self might say about becoming a coach, Craig pointed to the traits he valued most in the coaches he played for: preparation, organization, relationships and accountability.
“I don’t know what goes into it until you live it,” Craig said.
He has been living it for a while now. As a Golden Knights assistant from 2017-23, he helped the team reach the playoffs five times and was on staff for the Stanley Cup win in his final season. Then came Henderson, where the Silver Knights kept getting better under his watch.
The record there climbed from 28 wins in 2023-24 to 29 in 2024-25, before last season’s breakout: 39 wins and 90 points, both franchise records. Henderson then advanced to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs before losing to the Colorado Eagles.
That stretch gave Craig something he’ll need immediately in his first NHL head-coaching job: the chance to run a team, not just support one.
It also kept him tied closely to Vegas. The Golden Knights and Silver Knights operate in the same city, share practice facilities and move within the same organizational framework, so Craig knows the development pipeline from both ends.
He also already knows many of the players he’s inheriting. For the rest, he’s been working to build those relationships since his hiring.
That process started quickly, but Craig understood the players had just come off a long playoff run.
“I had to be conscious of those guys just finished playing,” Craig said. “…You want to give them their space.”
That kind of judgment - knowing when to lean in and when to back off - is going to matter just as much as any system he draws up.
For now, the summer has been about conversations. Training camp will bring the work onto the ice.
“Now we’re getting into the time here where it’s almost action,” Craig said. “It’s time to get to work on the ice.”
That’s where he is now: after years of collecting lessons as a player, assistant and AHL head coach, after watching the Golden Knights grow from an expansion team into a contender, after being part of the organization’s first championship run.
The preparation is done. The notebook years are over.
Ryan Craig is in charge.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Face One Big Question After Key Offseason Changes
After another deep playoff run, the Golden Knights entered the 2026 offseason with a familiar mandate: keep pushing forward without losing the edge that has made them one of the NHLs most consistent contenders. This time, the roster churn was more visible than usual. Vegas added defensemen Parker Wotherspoon, Ville Heinola and Adam Ginning, along with forwards Victor Olofsson and Marc Gatcomb, while also parting with Pavel Dorofeyev and others, leaving the group headed into training camp looking noticeably different.
For a team built on continuity and structure, the question now is how quickly those new pieces can settle in and what the lineup will look like once the competition starts for real. The Golden Knights have shown before that they can absorb change and keep winning, but this offseason created a fresh round of uncertainty in a camp that figures to be watched closely. How those additions fit, and which newcomers can carve out real roles, will go a long way toward shaping the early part of Vegas season. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Rivalry Game Could Suddenly Mean A Lot More
The NHLs newly announced national TV schedule put a familiar Pacific Division matchup back in the spotlight, with the Golden Knights and Sharks set for a December 16 meeting on TNT. It is the kind of game that usually carries plenty of built-in edge anyway, given how thoroughly Vegas has controlled this rivalry over the years, but the backdrop feels different this time.
San Jose has worked to close the gap with roster additions like Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse, giving the Sharks a more credible look than they have had in recent seasons. If both clubs are sitting near the top of the Pacific by mid-December, this one could become a whole lot more than just another nationally televised date on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Schedule Includes TV Changes Fans Will Want To See
The NHLs 2026-27 schedule gives Golden Knights fans a lot of ways to follow the team, and a few of them will come with a different feel than the usual local broadcast setup. Vegas is set for 15 nationally televised games on ESPN and Turner Sports, while another 69 games will still be available regionally through Scripps Sports and KnightTime+, so there should be no shortage of chances to catch the reigning West Coast spotlight team on a bigger stage.
The early highlight arrives right away, with the Golden Knights opening the regular season Sept. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks on ESPN. The league also adjusted start times for six Vegas games, another small but meaningful wrinkle for fans mapping out their viewing plans well ahead of time, especially with the mix of national exposure and regional coverage shaping how this season will be seen. [Read more 🡒]