The Vegas Golden Knights have moved on from last season’s long, long playoff run, but one controversial decision continues to follow the organization like a shadow. What should have been a celebration after advancing in the postseason instead turned into one of the NHL’s most talked-about disciplinary cases.
A senior team executive has now shared the team’s side of the story, offering new details that have fueled fresh discussion around the league. Those comments also prompted several well-known NHL voices to weigh in on where the responsibility truly belonged.
George McPhee Details Costly Vegas Golden Knights Mistake
Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee addressed the organization’s loss of its 2026 second-round draft pick during an appearance on The Cam & Strick Podcast this week, explaining how a breakdown in communication led to one of the harshest non-player penalties handed out during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The punishment came after head coach John Tortorella skipped the mandatory postgame press conference following Vegas’ 5-1 Game 6 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
The team also failed to provide the required media access to the locker room, prompting the NHL to cite the Golden Knights for flagrant violations of postseason media rules. The league fined Tortorella $100,000 and stripped Vegas of the No. 63 overall pick. Although the organization appealed the call, the NHL upheld both penalties.
McPhee acknowledged that the team made mistakes but argued the draft-pick penalty was excessive. “We were wrong on a couple of matters there, and Torts was wrong for not doing it. He deserved a fine, and we deserved something,” McPhee said.
“I thought the second-round pick was too high, and we appealed it… but that’s the decision that was made, and it should not have happened.”
He also revealed that neither he nor general manager Kelly McCrimmon knew what had happened until after leaving the arena.
“We had just won a series. Everybody was happy, and Torts decided to blow off the press conference,” McPhee explained. “Kelly and I didn’t know about it until Kelly was on the bus. Then I heard about it the next morning on TV. So anyway, that shouldn’t have happened, and we paid a price for it.”
McPhee’s comments quickly reignited debate across the hockey community, with several NHL voices offering different interpretations of the situation.
Nick Alberga placed the blame squarely on Tortorella, writing on X, “Another example of John Tortorella going into business for himself. The money’s one thing, but he cost Vegas a second round pick.”
NHL analyst Chris Gawlik instead questioned how the situation reached that point, arguing the club’s communications staff should have alerted senior management. “If what McPhee said is accurate, this entire debacle falls on them,” Gawlik wrote, adding that someone should have contacted McPhee or McCrimmon before the media session was missed.
While some focused on assigning blame, others appreciated how the organization responded once the punishment became official. NHL analyst Jack Manning wrote, “I appreciate that they haven’t made excuses and instead acknowledge the error and move on,” while calling the entire episode “an avoidable mistake.”
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NHL analyst Leslie Treff shared a similar view, praising McPhee’s honesty while believing Tortorella made life harder for the front office. “McPhee handles this perfectly,” Treff wrote before adding that “if there ever was a time when Torts should have played by the rules… this was it.”
