4 Coach Landing Spots for Bruce Cassidy After Vegas Golden Knights Firing

The Vegas Golden Knights made one of the most shocking changes of the NHL season when they fired head coach Bruce Cassidy with less than 10 games to go in the regular season, replacing him with John Tortorella.

In some ways, it is not a huge surprise given how the Golden Knights tend to operate. They are ruthless when it comes to putting together the best possible team to compete for a Stanley Cup. They will cut, trade, fire and sign anybody.

So it really does not matter that Cassidy won a Stanley Cup with them a couple of years ago. The only thing they care about this season is winning right now.

Cassidy will likely coach in the NHL again, and probably sooner rather than later. He also had success with the Boston Bruins, and experience counts for teams in the league.

With that said, let's take a look at a couple of potential landing spots for Cassidy next season.

Toronto Maple Leafs

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After this mess of a year, you can be certain that major changes will be coming for the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason, especially with a new general manager coming in.

The Craig Berube experience has not worked the way anybody hoped, and a new voice and a new direction is needed.

The question is whether Toronto will go with another established big name with a Stanley Cup on their resume or a younger, up-and-coming coach.

The potential concern with Cassidy is that he is very similar to Berube in that he is an intense, no-nonsense coach with a reputation for being harsh with players. He has won a Cup, but so did Berube.

However, the Maple Leafs might not want to go with somebody unproven in that market, with a core that should still be expecting to compete. That could open the door for somebody like Cassidy.

His teams have a history of being effective 5-on-5 sides, especially when it comes to driving possession and controlling the pace of play.

Over the past three seasons, his Vegas teams were top-10 almost universally across the board. Toronto has struggled in those areas the past couple of years under Berube.

Calgary Flames

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This is a tough situation for current head coach Ryan Huska because it is hard to put the blame on him for where the Calgary Flames are.

The roster is not particularly good, a ton of veterans have been traded over the years as part of a longer-term outlook, and starting goalie Dustin Wolf had a miserable opening to the season that ruined the early part of their schedule.

However, this is still going to be three consecutive seasons without the playoffs for Calgary, while this season has been a step back from 2024-25 when the team nearly reached the postseason.

How many coaches go three consecutive seasons without the playoffs and get a fourth year, whether it is a rebuild or not? Not many.

Cassidy has a track record of success everywhere he has been, and the Flames might find that attractive.

The question is whether he would want to take on a clearly rebuilding team that is short on offensive talent.

Nashville Predators

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Andrew Brunette's future with the Nashville Predators could be tied to whether they sneak into the second wild-card spot this season, but even that may not be enough to bring him back for another year.

The 52-year-old has coached the Predators for three seasons, and after leading them to the playoffs with 47 wins in his debut campaign, the team has taken steady steps backward since, even as management and the front office have made significant investments in the roster.

The Predators have been one of the league's biggest disappointments the past two seasons, and even a playoff appearance this season may not be that impressive in the Western Conference given how low the bar is to get in.

Nashville will also have a new general manager coming in this offseason who will almost certainly want to bring in their own head coach eventually.

It might be the perfect time for wholesale changes across the board.

Edmonton Oilers

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It might seem like a rash decision to move on from a head coach after back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, especially when the story of this year's team is still being written.

However, if the Oilers do not make a deep playoff run, is it really hard to imagine them exploring a coaching change, especially after Kris Knoblauch has faced some indirect public criticism from a few of the team's best players about the way it plays structurally?

You only get so many years of players such as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Most teams never get one player that good, let alone two at the exact same time.

When you do get them, you owe it to them, yourself, the team, the fans and everybody involved to do everything you can to deliver a championship. The Oilers are still chasing that with this group. While there are serious roster issues—from scoring depth to defensive depth to goaltending—there is also a potential need for a coaching upgrade.

A big-name coach whose name is on the Stanley Cup could be intriguing to the Oilers if this postseason does not go well.