Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman says the Oilers have not picked any new head coach and will go through an interview process to find one, but NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said on the FAN Hockey Show in Toronto today that the Oilers are locked on one candidate, former Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy and they’re going after him pronto.
It’s earlier been reported that the Oilers have asked Vegas for permission to negotiate with Cassidy but have so far been denied that permission.
“They’re not waiting,” said Friedman today of the Oilers on Cassidy. “Look, the only reason this played out the way it did was (the Oilers) tried to do it quietly and it got out, right? And, you know, if you’re the Oilers, you’re going after him and you’re getting it done. That’s the goal here.”
Friedman said he had not yet heard the Oilers have permission to negotiate, but that might change for a few reasons.
“Number one, I think that now we have an opening in Edmonton. Number two, there has been some suggestion given to me that the Golden Knights didn’t want to deal with this while they were in the middle of their series and they were prepared to deal with it after their series. I mean, I don’t know. It seems like, you know what? ‘Oh, you want to talk to our guy? Yes, no’ it seems pretty easy, but okay. I’ll just say that that suggestion has been made to me. And the thing I talked about on the (32 Thoughts) pod is about the money. I think that’s a factor. There is some suspicion out there that the Golden Knights wanted to make sure that if Cassidy is hired, they will not have to pay him at all next year. It will be at a number that either equals or exceeds what it was supposed to make, which I believe was $4.5 million. And then there’s just a little bit of, you know, we’ve got control here and you don’t. I still think this will sort its way out… I ultimately think he will be given permission, but the last I checked, which was about two hours ago, I didn’t get the sense he had been.”
Los Angeles hockey broadcaster Jon Rosen had reported that the Los Angeles Kings had talked to Cassidy already, but Friedman had information that this had not occurred.
Asked if the Oilers would be interested in former Leafs coach Craig Berube, Friedman said, “To me, it just seems like this whole thing is because of Cassidy. And I wasn’t surprised by anything Stan Bowman said today in the sense of, you know, this is clumsy, nobody’s arguing about this. This is not the way that these things are supposed to go. But I don’t think Edmonton is apologizing at all for we have to review what we have to review. … So I think really what it comes down to is they had targeted him or someone like him… I just think the way this unfolded, it’s hard not to look at it and think Edmonton is going to take a big run at this guy and try to get him as quick as they can.”
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My take
1. I get that sense that the Oilers would be announcing Cassidy as coach today if Vegas had not decided to withhold permission.
2. It’s one thing to withhold permission and another thing to deny it. Evidently, Vegas has the right to deny Cassidy to pick his next job. At the same time, it’s hard to get by the notion that it would be a display of revolting ingratitude for Vegas to block Cassidy’s way, given that he helped that team win a Stanley Cup in 2022. Who would do that kind of thing? Who would want that kind of karma?
Vegas has a reputation for being ruthless, sure, but I don’t see it from them to thwart their old coach after already having fired him. They also have $4.5 million in salary to save if Cassidy moves on, which is not small change.
3. At the same time, Edmonton can’t focus just on Cassidy. Bowman says they are not doing so. There are other strong candidates out there in Peter Laviolette, Craig Berube and maybe even Barry Trotz. Not as strong as Cassidy seems to be, no, but still good-to-excellent candidates.