The NHL removed a 2026 second-round pick from the Golden Knights and fined head coach John Tortorella $100,000 after the team and Tortorella skipped required media access following Thursday’s Game 6 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
By the time the Golden Knights finished celebrating Thursday night’s Game 6 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the usual media availability never arrived.
The NHL later handed down a punishment that hit where it hurts: the league took away a 2026 second-round draft pick from Vegas and fined head coach John Tortorella $100. 000 for what it called “flagrant violations of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations.” The sanction followed Tortorella’s failure to make himself available to reporters after the win. and the team’s decision not to open the locker room to members of the media.
Instead, questions at the podium went to Mitch Marner and Brett Howden. They joked with reporters that the team bus was leaving in 10 minutes, a small moment of levity amid an increasingly tense standoff over access to the press.
Neither the Golden Knights nor Tortorella provided an official explanation Thursday for why they didn’t meet the media requirements after the game.. The NHL’s statement offered the clearest official reasoning: “The imposition of these penalties comes after previous warnings were issued to the Club regarding their compliance with the Media Regulations and other associated policies.”
What sits underneath that timing is already sparking a push-and-pull inside the story. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Golden Knights were frustrated by Brayden McNabb’s one-game suspension for interference, and that frustration was part of why the team pulled the stunt.
The Golden Knights have been offered a chance to appeal the penalty to the office of commissioner Gary Bettman. That appeal would be held next week in New York.
In their brief statement, the Golden Knights said they “are aware of today’s announcement from the NHL” and that “the organization will have no further comment.” The statement did not confirm whether they will appeal.
They did, however, reach the next round: the Golden Knights advanced to the Western Conference Final with Thursday’s victory. They begin that series on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
The NHL’s sequence is hard to miss—Tortorella and the club didn’t comply after Game 6, warnings had already been issued previously, and then the league escalated to both a $100,000 fine and the loss of a 2026 second-round pick.
Golden Knights John Tortorella NHL media regulations 2026 second-round draft pick $100 000 fine Anaheim Ducks Mitch Marner Brett Howden Brayden McNabb suspension Western Conference Final Colorado Avalanche