The last big-name entry onto the coaching free-agent market was the first one off it.
Bruce Cassidy, canned by the Bruins eight days ago after posting a .672 points percentage in six seasons, was hired by the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday to replace deposed head coach Pete DeBoer.
With veteran coaches like Barry Trotz, John Tortorella and DeBoer on the market, it speaks to the respect people around the NHL have for the job that Cassidy did with the Bruins that he was not on the market for long. He did not miss the playoffs in six seasons.
But while many around the league were scratching their heads over why the Bruins would fire such a successful coach, Cassidy will be going to an organization that has earned a reputation of being highly demanding of its coaches during its very short existence. The Knights will be going into their sixth season and Cassidy will be their third coach.
“The Golden Knights are very pleased to have Bruce come in to coach our team,” said Knights’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon in a team press release. “His success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive. His teams have had a clear identity, having been among the very best in the NHL in terms of goals for, goals against, goal differential and special teams. This is the right coach for our team at this time.”
There is a long-standing connection between Cassidy and Vegas. The Knights’ President of Hockey Operations George McPhee was the GM with the Washington Capitals back in 2002 when he hired the then-37-year-old Cassidy to his first head coach gig. After Cassidy’s team was bounced in the first round in that first year, he lasted 25 games before he was fired the following season.
It took Cassidy 14 more years before he got another chance, and he was clearly ready for it when he took over for Claude Julien.
While the Bruins are on the precipice of some kind of rebuild, the Knights are built to win now.
“I am excited to join an organization that shares my commitment to winning and can’t wait to get to work with the talent that has been assembled in Vegas,” said Cassidy in the release. “It’s been impressive to watch the city embrace the Golden Knights from afar, and my family and I look forward to becoming a part of that.”
Cassidy definitely has some pieces with which to work. Up front, Cassidy will be charged with getting the most out of the uber-talented Jack Eichel, who was obtained from the Buffalo Sabres in a mega-deal last season. He also has terrific two-way forward Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Marchessault and on the back end Vegas has a true No. 1 in Alex Pietrangelo plus key contributors in Shea Theodore and Alec Martinez.
Cassidy will be charged with improving both the offense and defense. Despite the talent level, the Knights were just 12th in the league in goals per game and 15th in goals against. Vegas’ power-play was ranked 25th in the league.
It will be interesting to see how the bluntly honest Cassidy will mesh with mercurial netminder Robin Lehner.
Cassidy is now in a Stanley Cup-or-bust situation with the Knights. The franchise’s first coach, Gerard Gallant, led the expansion club to the Cup final in its first year of existence in 2017-18 Less than two years later, Gallant was dumped for DeBoer in the middle of the 2019-20 season. After the Knights failed to make the playoffs in the spring of this year, he too was shown the door.
Now it’s Cassidy’s turn to try to get the Knights over the finish line — and erase his own haunting memory of falling one game short of the Cup with the Bruins in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Bruins are still looking to fill their coaching vacancy. Much of the speculation has focused on candidates who are perceived to be a good fit with young players such as Seattle assistant Jay Leach as well as Providence College coach Nate Leaman, though Leaman just recently signed a contract extension with the Friars. Another name that has been bandied about has been Jim Montgomery, who has been a Blues assistant the last two years after losing his head coaching job with the Dallas Stars in 2020 while waging a public battle with alcohol.
