One of the bigger coaching names out there is Bruce Cassidy, who was relieved of his duties by the Vegas Golden Knights before the end of the season and replaced by John Tortorella. Cassidy has made appearances on the NHL on TNT Panel during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but wants to get back into coaching.
There was a firestorm on social media on Tuesday after a report by Frank Seravalli said the Edmonton Oilers wanted to speak with Bruce Cassidy, and the Golden Knights withheld permission. As NHLRumors.com has reported, the Oilers are not the only team interested in Cassidy.
NHL Rumors: Where Will Bruce Cassidy Land for His Next Job?
The Los Angeles Kings would be interested in him as well. Granted, neither has officially made coaching changes, but the Kings only gave DJ Smith the interim tag. So technically, there is a vacancy in Los Angeles. But according to Jon Rosen, the Kings are interested and would bring Cassidy in for an interview. He did mention the Kings spoke with him last Friday.
Well, it appears that isn’t the case, as neither the Edmonton Oilers nor the Los Angeles Kings has received permission from the Vegas Golden Knights to speak to Bruce Cassidy, according to Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast, which came out on Wednesday.
“First of all, let me just give you the updated news as of late Tuesday night, when we recorded this pod, Kyle. I am under the impression that neither the Oilers nor the Kings have yet to be given permission to talk to Bruce Cassidy. So as I understand it, late Tuesday night, when we were doing this pod, it wasn’t just an Edmonton thing. I am under the impression that Kings have not yet been given permission to talk to him, either.
So, I do think there’s some semantics here. I think there’s some annoyance as it’s taken a bit longer than everyone thought. But from what I can tell, the answer is not a No. It’s just, I don’t know, delayed, dragging their feet, whatever you want. It’s not yet, It’s not Yes, yet. Delayed dragging your feet, whatever it is. There’s no doubt in my mind that he is the number one candidate available.”
NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers, and the Los Angeles Kings
Friedman doubled down on the answer on Wednesday morning during his normal spot on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio’s Morning Skate with Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin
“As of last night, when we recorded the podcast, Vegas had not given either Edmonton or LA permission to talk to him, because one of the things I was curious about was that there were some reports yesterday, and I heard similar rumors that LA might have already interviewed Cassidy, and that would make it the whole thing even stranger.
But I was told last night that they don’t have permission to talk to him yet. That’s the best source I had told me that. So I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, and I have a feeling that eventually this will sort itself out. But as of yesterday, neither the Oilers nor the Kings had permission.”
As previously mentioned, Jon Rosen said the Kings had already spoken with him, but Friedman didn’t want to get into a battle over who was right or wrong on the matter. He just reiterated what he had heard, that neither team was given permission to talk to Cassidy.
Could Bruce Cassidy Become an Option for the Edmonton Oilers?
Whether this is gamesmanship or semantics, it will eventually get done. Though Friedman did wonder if Vegas wants a guarantee that whoever hires him won’t have to pay Bruce Cassidy anymore.
“The other thing I’ll say, and someone actually made an interesting argument about this, it’s a theory. He doesn’t know if it’s true, but this is another executive. He said, What Vegas could be waiting to find out here is, will they be guaranteed to be on the hook for no money next year?
I believe Cassidy makes around $4.5 million. He’s got another year under contract. But his curiosity was, he wondered if Vegas wants a guarantee that if Edmonton hire or LA hires them, they have to pay all of it. Vegas won’t have to pay anything. That’s purely a guess, but that was an educated guess.”
As he mentions, the Golden Knights better have a good reason for not allowing these teams to speak to Cassidy.
“Ultimately, though, the league has indicated before that you better have a good reason for denying somebody permission, so unless Cassidy doesn’t want to coach the Oilers or the Kings sooner or later, unless there’s a good reason that we don’t know about, they’re going to have to grant permission.”
It will be interesting to see how things play out with Bruce Cassidy, the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings.
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