Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are holding on to hope that the Vegas Golden Knights will make Bruce Cassidy available. However, a report circulating around the NHL suggests a scenario that, as ridiculous as it sounds, could still very much happen.
Although the NHL Coaches’ Association has come to McDavid and the Oilers’ rescue—or at least tried to force the league’s hand into taking action—the Golden Knights are standing firm. They are not giving the Oilers, nor other divisional rivals permission to speak with Cassidy, not for as long as they remain alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. What happens afterward remains uncertain, and every option is still on the table. Even a brazen move by the front office in Sin City.
“Maybe [the Golden Knights] want him back coaching their team next season, which would be in their right,” David Alter of The Hockey News wrote on his X account. “Tortorella is only locked in for the remainder of this season. But even that would be ridiculous.“
Vegas could bring Cassidy back
Even for an organization as recklessly ground-breaking as the Golden Knights, such a move would shock the rest of the NHL. It is a known fact that Vegas has nerve, but firing Cassidy with eight games left in the season, bringing in Tortorella for the postseason, reaching the Conference Finals, only to part ways with Torts and bring back Cassidy—might be a lot even for the Knights.
Bruce Cassidy was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights take pride in their avant-garde approach, but such a decision would take things to an extreme. Still, it is all within legal boundaries. As is their decision not to grant other teams’ permission to interview Cassidy.
“From NHL perspective, the league feels the Vegas response to date is consistent with the team’s existing contractual rights, as well as with established league policy. So, it remains very much up to the Golden Knights if and when teams can talk to Cassidy while he’s under contract,” as reported by Pierre LeBrun.
Cassidy’s contract
Cassidy is signed through the 2026-27 campaign, and the Knights are bound to pay him $4.5 million. If they are going to foot the bill, they might as well enjoy the dinner.
For the head coach, he would most likely not be on board with such treatment from the organization, but he is under contract regardless. Cassidy wants to be paid what he signed for, and he still wants to coach a Stanley Cup contender. By returning behind Vegas’ bench at T-Mobile Arena, he would get both.
Vegas may actually pull it off
Casting every moral restriction aside, it is certainly possible Vegas could bring Cassidy back and leave Edmonton still clueless in its head coaching search. The house always wins in Sin City, and the Knights may be playing with an ace up their sleeve.
Perhaps Kelly McCrimmon finds a solution to the age-old dilemma, and Vegas somehow, some way—jumping the line with the league’s CBA and morality lessons—manages to have its cake and eat it too.
