Mike Babcock angle shifts as teams seek Bruce Cassidy talks

Several teams have sought permission to speak with mike babcock’s old rival Bruce Cassidy after the Vegas Golden Knights fired him with eight games left and one year remaining on his contract. The timing lands as Toronto, Edmonton, Los Angeles and Vancouver search for their next head coach.

McCrimmon on Cassidy

Kelly McCrimmon said the Golden Knights have kept their focus on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and that the teams asking have respected that. He also said he has spoken with Bruce Cassidy, who remains under contract even though he is no longer behind Vegas’ bench.

Earlier Tuesday, the NHL Coaches’ Association took the opposite view. It said coaches who remain under contract but are no longer working for their club should not be blocked from other jobs, and called it unprecedented if multiple teams were denied permission to speak with Cassidy at the head-coaching level.

Vegas and the NHL

The backdrop is a club still sorting out the aftermath of Game 6. McCrimmon said the Golden Knights were in New York on Tuesday for a hearing with the National Hockey League regarding the events following that game, and he also said the club missed a chance to connect with fans after the playoff series victory because John was not available for postgame media.

That issue followed a heavier penalty earlier in the season, when John Tortorella was fined $100,000 and the club lost a second-round draft pick after he kept the locker room closed and refused to speak to the media after eliminating Anaheim. Vegas was about to face Colorado in the Western Conference Final on Wednesday, the fifth time in nine seasons it had reached that round, while the coaching market around it kept moving.

For the teams looking for a coach, the practical question is simple: can they get access to Cassidy before someone else does. Vegas has not opened that door yet, and McCrimmon’s stance leaves the next move on the league-side process and the clubs trying to fill jobs.