The Oilers season, and the future of this era, may come down to Stan Bowman’s choice of coach in the coming days. Everyone on planet earth believes Bruce Cassidy is the best choice, but the Vegas Golden Knights are blocking the path.
Even if Vegas gives the go-ahead, other teams wil be interested in Cassidy. Old Dutch out on the left coast can spin a yarn, and can be hypnotic when listing off NHL seasons (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 listed together by Ken Holland at media avails broke my brain) so one never knows.
If it isn’t Cassidy for the Oilers, Peter Laviolette would seem to be the best availabjle based on what we know. I thought Jay Woodcroft would be a sneaky backup option, but his name is out there in this year’s coaching carousel and he could land elsewhere. After that? Craig Berube.
It’s important to get the correct coach and I think Cassidy is the real perfect fit. If the Oilers have to trade for Cassidy, is it worth it? Probably. A second-round pick isn’t going to do any good for several years, and Cassidy can help this team the moment he is hired.
If the two-year window ahead means everything, then the Oilers need to think about making a trade for Cassidy. Today. Unless of course the Golden Knights management is too busy getting ready for the Final.
On the Lowdown today, we’ll talk about the situation in the coaching room, plus goaltending and more. The Oilers and the SCF take center stage on the Lowdown, noon to 2pm on Sports 1440.
With recent news from Gazzola that there was a confirmed rift between Bowman (management) and Knoblauch. Is it true? Supposed to be.
Now I wonder if some decisions put on the coach were actually Bowman.
Such as Leon – Connor – Frederic
Who was thinking this was the superline for the year?
Nashville Predators
@PredsNHL
Welcome to Smashville, Chris!
We’re proud to announce that Chris MacFarland has been hired as our President of Hockey Operations and General Manager.
As MacFarland assumes control of the Predators’ hockey operations department, Trotz transitions into an advisory role following a three-season tenure as the team’s general manager.
Trotz modernized the franchise’s hockey operations department while creating organizational depth, one of the NHL’s top prospect pools and holding 33 selections over the next three NHL Drafts.
Perhaps the most recognizable figure in Nashville’s hockey history, Trotz spent 15 seasons as the Predators’ first-ever head coach (1998-14) and is fifth in NHL history in games coached (1,812) and wins (914).
McFarland will have plenty to work with as the assumes control.
Along with the 33 draft picks over the next 3 seasons, the Predators have more than $27 million in cap space this offseason.
While the current roster is aging out, most of the high value contracts expire soon.
Stamkos – 2 seasons @ $8 million
Marchessault – 3 seasons @ $5.5 million
Ryan O’Reilly – 1 season @ $4.5 million
Filip Forsberg has 4 seasons left @ $8.5 million which is already a bargain.
He also has ageless wonder Roman Josi under contract for another 2 seasons @ $9 million.
He should be able to put his stamp on the team in very short order.
Jeff Marek:
Sabres’ D Michael] Kesselring’s interesting; if the Oilers can’t come to a deal with Connor Murphy…do they try to get Kesselring in as a replacement…he’s not gonna be a top 4 unless they’re gonna make a move with someone like Owen Power – Sekeres & Price
Forget if they miss on Murphy – do this instead of overpaying a defenceman who doesn’t move the puck. Kesselring is bigger and younger too.
Sign Dickinson instead and go with Kess.
Then they can trade Nurse and totally revamp the second pair.
Maybe resign Kulak too.
WOO-WEE.
I wonder what it would take to get him out of Buffalo.
He’s a RFA with arbitration rights.
With the paucity of RD available, I expect the Sabres would be looking for a substantial prospect.
They could certainly get that somewhere.
He’s offer sheet eligible.
Yes.
Buffalo has $12 million in cap space available to match although Alex Tuch might take a big chunk.
I would think Kesselring at age 26 will want to get paid.
Also of note, he is an American and may not be thrilled about playing in Canada.
Stu Cowan
@StuCowan1
Patrik Laine confirms he wasn’t injured at end of season #Habs
Pierre LeBrun
@PierreVLeBrun
There was incentive for Laine to stay on IR though as he will now be able to sign a bonus laden contract as a UFA with a lower base salary which will make him more appealing to teams.
Colorado has given permission for Nashville to talk to their currently employed and active general manager and it looks like he’s going to be hired by a division rival. Sure, there is a promotion to POHO here (although potentially also GM) but this is how business is done.
Cassidy will highly likely be made available to talk to all teams. I believe the league will be more active in this if it doesn’t happen promptly after the playoffs end.
Bettman is addressing the media today. My guess is, if he’s asked about this, the office stance will be the same – Vegas is within their legal rights. I think there will be different messaging to Vegas being the scenes, if needed.
The situations are very different.
McFarland is up for a promotion while Cassidy is not.
It is SOP for teams to allow their managers to pursue promotions.
The Oilers rehiring Woodcroft to be the head coach of the Oilers would be about the most Oilers thing that they could do. And that is why it is not completely and utterly out of the realm of possibility.
No chance.
Seravelli on with Karius this morning says his sense is no major concern with Bouchard – only question is how much rest/time off he may need before he’s ready to start normal training (paraphrasing).
Presumibg Cassidy is made available, and I still believe he will be, I think the Oilers are the clear favourite. For one, we heard Bruce himself say how special it would be to coach a Canadian team to a cup. We also heard Friedman say the Oilers are Cassidy’s top option.
LA is going to be mediocre for a while, TO as well. I think unless a coach is afraid of media the Oilers are top of the list having three of the league’s best players. I also think the discourse around Canadian media is overblown. Sure hockey in the US doesn’t get much attention in most cities, but if you are in one of the 3 other major sports they get as much heat as hockey players in Canada get
I tend to agree. It’s not a matter of if Cassidy becomes coach of the Oilers, it’s when.
Another thought of interest is the name Patrik Liane who will be well rested for next season
and might be open to a show-me type contract the Oilers are so open to. He could reinvent himself in Oiler silks, but thoughts are like clouds
Priyanta Emrith
@HabsInHighHeels
#Habs Brendan Gallagher’s emotional goodbye to the #GoHabsGo organization:
https://x.com/HabsInHighHeels/status/2061455864477675738?s=20
(click for video)
It is speculated Vancouver will acquire the final year of his contract to improve the culture of the team.
Holland’s love to talk/random stories is why I suspect he’s the one that actually leaked the Cassidy thing. He has everything to gain there and nothing to lose. He gets to make EDM and VGK look bad while putting pressure on and potentially increasing the number of coaches available (KK and Cassidy). Holland originally hired KK so it’s not out of the question that he’d be interested in him as well as Cassidy.
Holland is a gentleman and professional from what I’ve observed, seriously doubt he would do that.
Not intentionally.
His fishing buddy did offer sheet Broberg-Holloway. As the saying goes quilt by association.
Dave Hakstol is an interesting name for coach. He has a decent resume, has run a 1-2-2 system similar to Cassidy when he was head coach of the Flyers and Kraken, is good with line matching and was generally liked by the players. The one knock on him is that he’s not that creative on offensive systems. He is currently assistant with Colorado and the PP was one of his responsibilities that didn’t go particularly well this year. I wonder if paring him with Todd Nelson would be a good option. Not sure who is head coach and who is assistant but they might make a good team with complementary skill sets Nelson with offense and player development and Hakstol with defensive systems and structure.
FWIW, Servalli was very complimentary of Hakstol. He was on ON (Servalli) and said Hakstol is not like KK even though he appears unemotional on the bench. Said he’s very intense and gets a lot out of his players.
Hakstol looks exactly like Knoblauch, dont see it happening for this reason
In his hockey DB pic he looks like an arrogant frat boy, pretty funny
Chris Johnston
@reporterchris
Final voting totals for 2025-26 Norris Trophy:
https://x.com/reporterchris/status/2061832162702217593?s=20
(click for link to vote totals)
Spoiler alert: Werenski wins
Bouchard, pretty darn good though. Great job Bouch.
Surprised by the margin Werenski got.
1st place votes:
Werenski – 113
Makar – 47
Dahlin -13
Bouchard – 12
Seider – 5
Hutson – 3
I think his profile likely just jumped a bunch at the worlds. Dominant and they were weak without him
NHL
@NHL
Zach Werenski thought this was just a regular family BBQ, but he was in for quite a surprise!
His whole family was on hand to celebrate the first James Norris Memorial Trophy of his career!
https://x.com/NHL/status/2061831055242309857?s=20
(click for video)
Does Torts have a contract beyond June 30th? Maybe the Oilers should sweep in with a revenge Torts signing and leave Vegas on the outside looking in. He who laughs last…
I think the Oilers want to get it done before the draft. Torts is a wildcard for sure, though.
Maybe they should seek permission to speak with Torts. Let that leak out like a fart from a dead seagull.
Manny Malhotra appointed Head Coach inVancouver.
https://www.nhl.com/canucks/news/vancouver-canucks-name-manny-malhotra-23rd-head-coach-in-franchise-history
That is an astute hire.
Abbotsford players loved him.
I’m firmly in the definitely not Laviolette camp. I don’t really know much about coaching and systems play, so mostly I’m going off of vibes. Vibes are way off with him.
Is it the hair, Lois? It’s the most unnerving thing for me. As the son of a man whose combover was Rene Levesque-level, I find it disturbing. Speaks to choices. 🙂
Funny it’s always bugged me as well
Nashville given permission to talk with Colorado GM Chris McFarland about POHO job.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/predators-granted-permission-to-speak-to-avalanche-gm-chris-macfarland/
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
More: according to several sources, MacFarland met face-to-face last night with owner Bill Haslam and the goal is for the Predators to close this quickly. They know they will have to hand the keys to MacFarland and are prepared to do it. Stay tuned.
Sorry for not rditing… fat fingers do not work well… lol
If the Oilers are heslyhy to stsrt the season they will br fine. One cannot over look yhe fact that the Oilers did not have one centre down the middle 100% healthy inbthe plaoffs. Look no farther than Colorado with McKinnon and Makar both hurt… if healthy they best Vegas just like Oilers probably beat the Ducks. Shot term whomever they hire will do fine.
It is more fun to read it as if I just finished a bottle of vodka…
Time to re-visit Todd Nelson.
Maybe him, but for experience Dave Hakstol is probably a better choice than Berube or Laviolette. Alan May talking to Gregor broke Lav down pretty well and it’s not pretty. Good motivator, his system is so outdated teams quit on him after one season. As in the last two teams
I don’t particularly but the narrative on Laviolette – as I’ve also seen him described as “learning” and “evolving” before.
Are there any coaches out there who only deploy one system exclusively any longer? Even Hitchcock started to bend at the end.
Maybe he is. I have always been bothered by the constant use of ‘learning’. Everyone does as they go through life, hopefully, but when you are in your 60’s and been an NHL HC for over 2 decades, if you are needing to learn much you are not smart or really stubborn. You should be an expert
I think the ‘learning’ mantra is too often used as cover for messing up or not being good at something, getting things wrong. Experts teach, they aren’t in active learning mode even if they are still learning passively
He never gets deep into a conversation with a team. I’ve never understood why. Results are strong. Any road, I don’t believe he is destined for a head coaching job.
A good coach and a good salesman aren’t always the same thing.
I’ve heard that’s the knock on Nelson. He can talk to hockey players, not executives.
They just had Knobs, unlikely they give Todd a look this cycle. Rah Rah pedigree turn.
They saw the Montgomery and Deboer moves and said ‘we should do it like that so people think we’re cutting edge and bold’.
Same old Oilers.
The more I read and hear about Cassidy from his former players, the more I want nothing to do with him.
Bednar if he shakes free, Laviolette if he doesn’t. Do not give Vegas anything for Cassidy. F them.
This is the right attitude. Oilers have a roster just moments from Stanley Cup. This year they had a rest. The line up should be on the coaching side.
The team has to listen to the coach, or I should say Connor & Leon need to listen to the coach. Whoever the coach is, Connor & Leon need to buy in. This is where the problem lies.
I would suggest this is a guess at best.
If it was true then the whole past few seasons of almost Stanley come down to fixing this one thing.
I don’t think so, and the reason why is Paul Coffey. Coffey going into that room and on the bench gave managment an insider perspective if they didn’t already have it. If it was as simple as you say, solutions would be presented.
Bednar’s hair is even worse than Laviolette’s.