Oilers forced to play their hand with Kris Knoblauch following Bruce Cassidy report
Following the report that the Edmonton Oilers were denied permission to speak to former Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy, the Oilers may now be forced to play their hand regarding current coach Kris Knoblauch’s job.
Oilers forced to play their hand with Kris Knoblauch following Bruce Cassidy report originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . There was a report on Tuesday morning from NHL insider Frank Seravalli that the Edmonton Oilers had asked the Vegas Golden Knights for permission to speak with head coach Bruce Cassidy, but that request has not been granted.
Cassidy was fired by the Golden Knights on March 30, less than a month before the Stanley Cup playoffs. Technically, Cassidy is still under the rights of Vegas since his contract is yet to expire, and that’s why other teams typically ask for permission to speak with candidates in Cassidy’s situation. However, what doesn’t usually happen is the coach’s previous team withholding access to the interested team to speak to the candidate.
What made matters worse for the Oilers is this request going public. MORE : Golden Knights reportedly deny Oilers request to speak to Stanley Cup-winning coach Now that everyone knows that Edmonton was interested in speaking with Cassidy, what does that mean for current Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch? This report surfacing forces the Oilers organization to play its hand.
Which means, because the public - including Oilers players, staff, and Knoblauch himself - know that Edmonton may have one foot out the door regarding Knoblauch’s status with the team, they’ll need to act on the situation. Essentially, that means the Oilers have no choice but to let Knoblauch go. It may not be the best situation to let Knoblauch lead a team that knows the franchise planned a coaching change this off-season.