A leader among men: The Ryan Craig Era begins for the Golden Knights

John Tortorella set the stage for Ryan Craig without realizing it. On April 13, Tortorella was already discussing his eventual successor, though he did not know it at the time. The conversation began with the Henderson Silver Knights and the possibility of a call‑up during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tortorella later raved about the player taken 255th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2002 NHL Draft, a man he had once coached. “Couldn’t skate a lick,” Tortorella said of Craig, as the country erupted into laughter. “But he was specified a bully player. You just knew he could be a coach. You could just tell.” He added, “That’s 1 of the amended radical you’re going to conscionable successful the game. Forget astir what he does as cold as hockey. He’s 1 of the amended persons you’re going to meet.” Within the Golden Knights organization, Craig’s reputation was never in doubt. For six seasons as an assistant coach he was repeatedly described as one of the hardest‑working members of the staff. Former head coach Gerard Gallant once called him “one of the astir passionate minds” he had ever encountered. That reputation translated into a three‑year stint in Henderson that culminated in a Calder Cup Playoff berth and a series victory—the first in franchise history. Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon has known Craig since he was 15, when Craig played for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League, a team McCrimmon once operated. “I’ve ever utilized the (saying), Craiger’s been 40 for as long as I’ve known him,” McCrimmon joked on June 18, the day Craig was introduced as the fifth coach in Knights history. “He respects people. He commands respect. He’s a peculiar guy.” At 44, Craig will become the NHL’s third‑youngest head coach, behind only San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Warsofsky (38) and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Dan Muse (43). He steps into a franchise that, three months earlier, was just two wins shy of a second Stanley Cup title in four years. His intimate knowledge of the organization gives him an advantage; the Knights are the only team Craig has known since retiring from a 14‑year playing career in 2017. During that career he appeared in 711 AHL games, served as captain on three different teams, and captured a Calder Cup in 2016. Those who have watched Craig’s development say his journey and the example he set at each stop have prepared him for this moment. “I think you’ll find anybody you talk to when you mention Ryan, everybody just smiles,” Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “I know I do.” Zito first met Craig in 2012 when Craig signed an AHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets and was named captain of the Springfield Falcons, Columbus’ AHL affiliate. Two years later Zito became general manager of the Lake Erie Monsters, another Columbus affiliate. Even as Craig’s playing career wound down, Zito recognized the qualities of a true leader. “At that point in his career, he was a first‑line subordinate in work to his linemates,” Zito said. He marveled at Craig’s hockey sense, noting that Craig could motivate a bubble player at 9 a.m. and then discuss power‑play tactics with the team’s top‑skilled players an hour later. “It’s casual to talk about reasoning about the team, and Ryan is simply a feline who lived it,” Zito said. “We talk about servant leadership. He should be the poster lad of serving his teammates, his coaches, his organization into being the champion players and champion radicals they can be.” Zito, who has been the Panthers’ general manager since 2020, rarely compares anyone to his current captain, Aleksander Barkov. Yet he places Craig in the same elite category. “I don’t do that lightly,” Zito said. “That’s the elite level of person that you most apt can’t execute by trying. You either have to have it, or you don’t,” he continued. “(Craig’s) commitment to the group, his organization and who he was as a person, made his teammates execute not because he encouraged them or inspired them. It’s because they didn’t want to disappoint him because they had so much respect for him and for what he had done for them.” Craig often points to his family as the source of his leadership philosophy. When introduced as the Knights’ coach, he became emotional discussing his wife, Jaydee, and their three children—daughters Kylie and Cameron, and son Carson. “I think it was the way I was raised. My ma and dad,” Craig said. “Just the people I was around growing up.” He credits his parents for instilling the values of family and loyalty, which he now passes on to his own kids. He also looks to former captains Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman as models of leadership, adopting their traits even though his own on‑ice career took a different path. “I think if you ask anybody who’s ever won a championship, you’ll hear someone say it’s the tightest group they’ve ever been around, or the most fun they’ve had with their group,” Craig said. “Winning is simply a portion of that, but it’s also a product of that group getting on however they do.” The 2016 Lake Erie Monsters remain a touchstone for many. That squad featured 13 players who eventually reached the NHL, including Josh Anderson, Sonny Milano, Joonas Korpisalo and Oliver Bjorkstrand. With seven games left in the regular season, the Monsters acquired top‑prospect defenseman Zach Werenski from the Blue Jackets. Werenski, who would later win the Norris Trophy, recalled the impact of Craig’s presence. “I think just having conversations with him early on made me feel truly comfortable,” Werenski said. “He kind of has that effect on people. He’s a very calming presence and (has) a calming demeanor, and it just made me feel truly comfortable right away. That means a lot when you’re a young kid and the captain of the team makes you feel that way.” Werenski noted Craig’s ability to read the room and respond appropriately. “If guys needed a little bit more, he’d give it or he’d say it. Or if guys were going and humming along, he was the best supporter,” Werenski said. “He was just doing his thing and playing his game. I feel like he always knew the right thing to say at the right time.” Lake Erie went 15‑2 in the Calder Cup Playoffs, losing only two games in the second round after surrendering a 3‑0 series lead. After a 6‑1 loss in Game 5, the Monsters rattled off wins to defeat the Hershey Bears in the finals, with Craig lifting the Calder Cup. “There’s a chance he could have been the captain of an undefeated American League title team,” Zito said. “And that says an awful lot about Ryan Craig.” Craig’s path to Las Vegas began after he realized a roster call‑up in the NHL was unlikely. Starting in 2010 he kept a diary filled with likes, dislikes, motivational quotes and coaching tips gathered throughout his career. He refers back to it as a reminder of where he has been and where he is headed. He sees himself as a motivational coach who is direct, honest and consistent with his players. He is familiar with many members of the Knights’ locker room—some with whom he won the 2023 Stanley Cup as an assistant, others he is getting to know for the first time. “My job is to