- Kelly McCrimmon says Vegas granted one team permission to interview Bruce Cassidy
- The window opened near the middle of the Cup Final and nothing came of it
- Read below for the Maple Leafs connection and where the Oilers stand
The Golden Knights cracked the door on Bruce Cassidy after all.
Kelly McCrimmon said at his year-end media session Wednesday that Vegas granted one team permission to interview Cassidy this spring. Nothing came of it, and he said the club will handle future requests case by case.
McCrimmon kept it short:
Jesse Granger of The Athletic pinned down the timing. The window opened “near the middle” of the Cup Final, then closed without a hire.
Granger added the detail:
McCrimmon didn’t name the team. Every arrow points at Toronto.
The Maple Leafs were hunting a coach during that exact stretch and landed on Jim Hiller on Wednesday.
Toronto made it official the same morning:
So the one team Vegas let through the door picked someone else anyway.
The contract is what makes any of this necessary. Vegas fired Cassidy on March 29 and handed the bench to John Tortorella.
Tortorella dragged the team all the way to the Cup Final before falling to Carolina. Cassidy never left the books, so any club that wants him has to go through McCrimmon first.
That setup already caused a fight. Edmonton asked to speak with Cassidy and got stonewalled, and the NHL Coaches’ Association fired off a statement in May saying coaches under contract shouldn’t be blocked from chasing new jobs.
Vegas has moved on, promoting Ryan Craig to head coach for next season.
Edmonton is now the only team without a coach. McCrimmon’s case-by-case line means the Oilers’ road to Cassidy still dead-ends in Vegas.
