The Edmonton Oilers are very interested in hiring Bruce Cassidy ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season. As long as they can’t land the Stanley Cup-winning head coach, however, they’ll remain stuck in the search process. The Oilers can’t afford that luxury, and Connor McDavid won’t allow it, either.
That’s why Edmonton must come up with solutions. The Oilers can either wait patiently for the Vegas Golden Knights to allow Cassidy to interview with other teams—whenever that happens, if it happens at all—or steer in a different direction. While an alternative that would raise a different set of concerns, a report suggests hiring Craig MacTavish on a one-year deal to serve as McDavid and the rest of the team’s head coach next season.
“If the Oilers grow weary of waiting to talk to Cassidy and want a one year coach Craig MacTavish might be your guy locally,” Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson stated on his X account.
MacTavish’s coaching history with Oilers
MacTavish has only been an NHL head coach once in his career. That was with the Oilers, of course. Handed the top job for the 2000-01 season, MacTavish led the team to a 32-26-16-8 record and a playoff berth before falling in the opening round.
Craig MacTavish during his time as Oilers’ head coach.
His team reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four of his first five seasons but didn’t win a series until the 2005-06 campaign. Not only did Edmonton finally break through, but it also reached the Stanley Cup Final, where it fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.
MacTavish was let go after the 2008-09 season. Since then, he has coached in the AHL and KHL, served as the Oilers’ senior vice president of hockey operations, and worked as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues during the 2022-23 campaign.
Oilers need someone who acts like he’s been here before
Whether the leaked interview request for Cassidy played a role or not, the Oilers have fired Kris Knoblauch, the head coach who led McDavid closer to a Stanley Cup than any of the four other bench bosses he has played under in Edmonton.
With McDavid’s time in the Gateway to the North finite, the Oilers could lean toward the only other head coach who has led them to a Stanley Cup Final in the 21st century. Whether that’s the right call or not, that’s another question. Only time will tell, and time hasn’t been an ally as of late.
MacTavish was around the organization when it selected Connor McDavid with the first overall pick in 2015. Looking back, it’s safe to assume neither MacTavish nor anyone else expected things to be the way they are 11 years later. It’s far from a perfect storm, but it may be just what the Oilers need—that isn’t named Bruce Cassidy and under the Golden Knights’ jurisdiction.
