The Vegas Golden Knights have denied the Los Angeles Kings permission to speak with their former head coach, Bruce Cassidy.
NHL insider Andy Strickland wrote on social media that the Kings asked the Knights for permission to speak to Cassidy, but they were denied. The veteran reporter also said that he doesn’t have any confirmation if the Toronto Maple Leafs have asked to speak to Cassidy yet, as they are also looking for a new head coach after recently relieving Craig Berube of his duties.
“Hearing Vegas has also denied LA permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy. Donât believe Toronto has asked to talk to him as of last night,” Strickland wrote on X.
Golden Knights Not Letting Bruce Cassidy Move On
We already know that the Golden Knights have blocked the Edmonton Oilers have speaking to Cassidy about their vacant head coaching position. Now, we know the Knights are also blocking the Kings from speaking to him, too. All three of these teams are in the Pacific Division, so Vegas clearly doesn’t want to let their Stanley Cup-winning former head coach go up against them in the same division. Still, it’s basically unprecedented to see a team denying a coach they fired from getting the chance to move on with their career.
Usually, teams have no problem letting other clubs talk to coaches they have fired. In this case, the Knights are blocking Cassidy, likely because they are afraid he will go to a division rival and then beat him. It’s a petty way to conduct business, but the Golden Knights have never been shy of doing things in a cutthroat way. Indeed, despite Cassidy leading them to a Stanley Cup just three years ago, he was fired with just eight games to go in the regular season this year. The Knights replaced Cassidy with John Tortorella, who has coached the team to the Western Conference Finals against the Colorado Avalanche, though they are the underdog to win that series against the Stanley Cup favorite Avalanche.
Bruce Cassidy In Limbo
Right now, Cassidy is in limbo. While he is still being paid by the Knights, and reportedly he has one more year left on his contract with them, he would likely rather coach a team in the NHL and have a chance to win another Stanley Cup. Both the Oilers and the Kings are excellent fits for someone like Cassidy, so it’s rather unfortunate that the Knights are stooping so low as to deny him the chance to move on with his life and coach a new team.
While you can understand the Knights are worried that Cassidy being hired by a division rival will come back to haunt them, at the same time, it’s petty to keep him from getting work. We’ll see if the team eventually decides to change its mind and let Cassidy speak to either the Oilers or Kings, but for now, he is in a holding pattern as Vegas won’t let him speak to these rival clubs.
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