The Vegas Golden Knights confirmed Wednesday that only one team had been granted permission to speak to fired head coach Bruce Cassidy.
That team was the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Sportsnet insider Nick Kypreos. Toronto announced the hire of Jim Hiller for the job earlier Wednesday.
Cassidy’s fate has been hanging in the balance ever since he was fired by the Golden Knights in late March and replaced by John Tortorella.
Cassidy remains under contract with the Golden Knights until June 30, 2027, meaning Vegas had to give permission to any suitor looking to hire him.
It was widely reported in May that the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings had interest in hiring Cassidy but had not received permission to speak to him. The Kings ultimately hired Peter Laviolette while the Oilers are reportedly targeting Mike Babcock for their job, pending an investigation into his brief time as head coach in Columbus.
“We had a situation where we did grant Bruce permission to speak to another team,” Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said Wednesday. “That didn’t come to fruition, but we’ll deal with that on a case-by-case basis.”
For his part, Cassidy called the situation “upsetting” and reiterated his desire to get back behind an NHL bench as soon as possible during an interview with Spittin’ Chiclets on May 28.
“I want to go to work. I’m a hockey coach,” Cassidy said.
“Once you’re fired, your contract’s basically terminated, but the one thing people don’t realize is … you have no-compete clauses, so I can’t resign today and go work for someone tomorrow,” Cassidy added. “I can’t work until Vegas gives me permission until this contract’s up, which is at the end of next season. So if I resign, all I do is not get paid.”
Maple Leafs GM John Chayka was asked if he spoke to Cassidy before hiring Hiller, but didn’t want to reveal who all the candidates were.
“We took our time. We cast a very wide net. We ended up spending time with over 25 coaches, when it was all said and done,” Chayka told reporters on Wednesday during Hiller’s introductory press conference. “When we got through that process, it just created a lot of conviction that he was the right person at the right time with the right group, hopefully.”
The Golden Knights announced this week that Tortorella would not be returning after guiding the team to the Stanley Cup Final. AHL head coach Ryan Craig was promoted to the NHL job on Wednesday.