Former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy admitted that he is upset his former team is blocking him from interviewing for HC jobs.
Cassidy was fired by Vegas in March after the team decided to move on from him after a tough stretch of games and hire John Tortorella with just eight games to go in the regular season. Under coach Tortorella, the Knights are now in the Stanley Cup Finals, so the decision to let go of Cassidy — while controversial at the time — has proven to be a genius move in hindsight.
However, while the Golden Knights are now four wins away from winning a Stanley Cup, the team is not letting Cassidy talk to other teams about potential employment.
Bruce Cassidy Upset Golden Knights Are Blocking HC Interviews
We know the Edmonton Oilers want to talk to Cassidy about their vacant head-coaching gig, and we know that the Los Angeles Kings are also interested. But up to this point, Vegas is blocking both of their Pacific Division rivals from talking to their former head coach, who, despite being fired, is still technically under contract for one more season in Vegas.
In the NHL, when teams fire a coach, they typically let them talk to other teams if an interview request comes in. But the Knights are bucking that trend to this point and denying Cassidy the opportunity to make a living and coach somewhere else. It’s for that reason that the coach that led the franchise to their only Stanley Cup in 2023 admits he is extremely upset by the situation.
“It’s upsetting…There was two teams that asked it’s public knowledge now, and I would like to talk to them. I want to go to work. I’m a hockey coach,” Cassidy said on “Spittin’ Chiclets.”
Bruce Cassidy speaks on Vegas not allowing him to interview for other teams.
Will Vegas Let Bruce Cassidy Talk to Edmonton and LA?
The Golden Knights have stated that they are currently focused on their Stanley Cup playoff run, and they don’t want any distractions, which is why they aren’t letting Cassidy talk to Edmonton or Los Angeles. But it’s still extremely petty that the team is not letting Cassidy get the chance to talk to two teams with head coaching vacancies about work.
Perhaps Vegas will eventually let up and let Cassidy speak to other teams. But at that point, those teams may have already hired someone else to coach their teams, and Cassidy may be left in the dust during this offseason’s coaching cycle.
As he proved when he won the Stanley Cup three years ago, Cassidy is one of the very best coaches in the NHL, and it’s a shame he isn’t able to interview for the open HC jobs in Edmonton and LA, at least not yet. Hopefully, the Golden Knights will finally stop blocking him from trying to make a living, but for now, it’s status quo.
The only solace for Cassidy is that he is still getting paid by Vegas for the next season to not work. But it really feels like he doesn’t want a handout and wants to get back behind an NHL bench, doing what he loves to do, which is coaching a team to the sport’s ultimate grand prize, the Stanley Cup.
Bruce Cassidy Upset Golden Knights Are Blocking HC Interviews