VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NAME RYAN CRAIG AS TEAM’S HEAD COACH

VEGAS (June 17, 2026): Vegas Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon
announced today, June 17, that Ryan Craig has been named the team’s head coach. Craig
becomes the fifth head coach in Vegas’ history.

Craig, 44, spent the past three seasons serving as head coach of the organization’s affiliate in
the American Hockey League, the Henderson Silver Knights. With Craig at the helm, Henderson
saw their win total increase following each season with Craig behind the bench, earning 28 (2023-
24), 29 (2024-25), and 39 (2025-26) victories. The Silver Knights finished the 2025-26 regular
season with a record of 39-21-12 and 90 points, establishing franchise records in the team’s six
years spent in Henderson. This spring, Craig and the Silver Knights advanced to the second round
of the Calder Cup Playoffs before falling to the Colorado Eagles.

Prior to his tenure as head coach in Henderson, Craig served as an assistant coach with the
Golden Knights for six seasons, from 2017 to 2023. The native of Abbotsford, British Columbia
lifted the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023, his final season as an assistant coach.
Craig helped the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five of the six seasons he was
with Vegas.

Prior to beginning his coaching career, Craig played eight years in the NHL, totaling 198 games
with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets. The forward
also played in 711 AHL games and served as captain on nine teams, including the 2015-16 Calder
Cup Champion Lake Erie Monsters.

Craig played five seasons (1998-2003) for the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings,
where McCrimmon was the team’s owner and general manager. He led the team in scoring twice
and served as captain for two years. In the 2002-03 season, Craig was named to the WHL East
First All-Star Team and was the Humanitarian of the Year in both the Canadian Hockey League
and Western Hockey League.

Craig was drafted in the eighth-round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by Tampa Bay.
Craig and McCrimmon will be available to media at approximately 9:30 a.m. PT on Thursday,
June 18 at City National Arena. Media attending City National Arena will need to have a
form of press identification visible at all times. The team’s season-long credentials and
postseason credentials are valid forms of press identification. Thursday’s media availability will
be conducted inside the team’s video room of City National Arena.