Rangers fans overwhelmingly want ex-coach, Vegas to win Stanley Cup: poll
In a poll run by Forever Blueshirts on X (formerly Twitter), New York Rangers fans made it clear they prefer if John Tortorella and the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup Final instead of K’Andre Miller and the Carolina Hurricanes.
The best-of-7 championship series begins Tuesday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It features Miller, the 26-year-old former Rangers defenseman, playing for the Hurricanes; and the Golden Knights are coached by Tortorella, who used to be behind the Rangers bench, and is the fifth-winningest coach in franchise history with 171 victories.
Vegas also has two former Rangers on its roster — center Brett Howden and forward Reilly Smith.
A decisive 51.1 percent of those who participated in the poll chose Tortorella and the Golden Knights to win the Cup. Only 15.2 percent backed Miller and the Hurricanes. A third option was included in the poll: “Don’t care/Start [NHL] Draft.”
That choice drew 33.6 percent of the vote, fans who are more eager for the Rangers to be on the clock, with the No. 5 and No. 26 overall selections in the first round on June 26, and then with nine more selections scheduled for Day 2 of the draft on June 27.
One participant, @Casey12P tweeted “How could a NYR fan pick the Canes,” a nod toward their rivalry in the Metropolitan Division and recent second-round playoff series against the Hurricanes in 2022 and 2024, each won by the Rangers.
More fans who commented threw their support behind Tortorella, and none publicly said anything bad about Miller, whom the Rangers traded to the Hurricanes last summer for defenseman Scott Morrow and two draft picks, including one late in the first round this year, previously belonging to the Dallas Stars.
One fan, @Bob418305925458, stated “Don’t like Torts but also don’t like Canes so it has to be Knights.”
Former Rangers on opposing sides in 2026 Stanley Cup Final
Tortorella is the second NHL coach to go more than 20 years in between Stanley Cup Final appearances. He won the Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, when they defeated the Calgary Flames in seven games. Twenty-two years later, he’s back with the Golden Knights, who hired him with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Torts gave the Golden Knights the boost they needed — they closed the regular season 7-0-1 and are 19-4-1 overall under the former Rangers coach.
Howden, who also helped Vegas win its first Stanley Cup championship in 2023 after playing three seasons with the Rangers from 2018-21, is tied for the postseason lead with 10 goals in 16 games, along with teammate Pavel Dorofeyev. Smith, another Vegas Cup winner from three years ago, who played part of the 2024-25 season with the Rangers, is pointless in six postseason games this spring. The 35-year-old’s been a healthy scratch since Game 6 of the first-round series against the Utah Mammoth.
Carolina arrives at the Stanley Cup Final having won 12 of 13 games, including four of five to knock out the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final. Miller is playing some of the best hockey of his career during these playoffs, and leads all skaters with a plus-14 rating in the postseason. He paces Carolina defensemen with eight points (all assists) and averages a team-high 23:55 TOI this spring.
Miller played his first five NHL seasons with the Rangers, who selected him in the first-round (No. 22 overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. Twice he helped the Rangers reach the conference final (2022, 2024), but this is his first Stanley Cup Final appearance.
