The Vegas Golden Knights must forfeit their 2026 second-round pick, and head coach John Tortorella has been fined $100k, the NHL announced. Tortorella skipped his postgame news conference, and the team denied reporters access to the locker room after Thursday’s Game 6 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
BREAKING: Golden Knights to forfeit 2026 2nd round draft pick and John Tortorella fined $100,000 for “flagrant violations” of Media Policies.
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The club did not hold any media availability after advancing to the Western Conference Final last night in Anaheim. #ForgedInGold
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) May 15, 2026
The money will go to the NHL Foundation charity. The Golden Knights do have the chance to appeal the penalties, yet the franchise has declined to comment.
After the 5-1 victory over the Ducks, Golden Knights staff informed media members that they would not open the dressing room for players to speak to the media. They cited congestion in the Honda Center hallway as staff members attempted to bring bags to the team bus. Mitch Marner and Brett Howden spoke at a news conference, and Shea Theodore spoke in a separate room outside of the visiting dressing room.
Tortorella has been involved in incidents like this before. In 2020, he was fined $25,000 for walking out on his video news conference after answering two questions. Earlier this postseason, Vegas cancelled Tortorella’s scheduled media availability before Game 3 against the Utah Mammoth.
The NHL requires that head coaches be made available to reporters “daily during the Stanley Cup playoffs, following morning skates, practices and games.” Teams are also required to provide a 30-minute media access period to reporters in the locker room after practices and games.
