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Tortorella fined $100,000 and Vegas forfeits a second round pick as NHL comes down hard on Golden Knights for breaking media regulations
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Photo credit: © Rob Gray-Imagn Images
David Quadrelli
May 15, 2026, 20:30 EDTUpdated: May 15, 2026, 20:32 EDT
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Well, that’s a pretty steep penalty.
Following their game six win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, the Vegas Golden Knights did not make John Tortorella available to media, and according to The Athletic’s Jesse Grenger, also declined to open their dressing room after the game. Instead, Vegas brought out Shea Theodore to a side room to speak, along with Mitch Marner and Brett Howden, who spoke at a podium.
On Friday afternoon, the NHL brought the hammer down, fining head coach John Tortorella $100,000 and forcing the Golden Knights to cough a second round pick. The NHL sent out the following statement on Friday:
“The National Hockey League announced today that, as a result of flagrant violations of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations following Game 6 of their Second Round series against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, May 14, the Vegas Golden Knights will forfeit a second-round pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
In addition, Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella has been fined $100,000.
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.
Vegas has been offered the opportunity to appeal these penalties to the Commissioner’s Office. That appeal would be held in person next week in New York.”
The NHL CBA and league media regulations impose (supposedly) strict contractual obligations on players to remain available to the media. For post game media in particular, players must be available for interviews following the game’s conclusion. No player is (supposed to be) allowed to be excused from their designated media access duties without explicit approval from both the League and the NHL Players’ Association.
And “in extreme cases of structural non-compliance,” the NHL can impose massive organizational penalties, including the forfeiture of NHL draft picks. As far as we can tell, Vegas is the first NHL team to actually have to forfeit draft capital as a result of breaking the NHL’s media regulations.
A second-round pick is certainly a high price to pay for a team that only has a third, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round selection in this year’s draft. Like most contending teams, Vegas doesn’t have a ton of future assets as it is, so losing out on a second-round pick will certainly hurt them.
Vegas has appealed the league’s decision. Shortly after the news release , the Golden Knights put out a statement saying that they were aware of the league’s decision but, somewhat fittingly, wouldn’t have any further comment.
Vegas will take on the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after beating the Anaheim Ducks in six games.
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