Report: Fallout from Oilers loss led to Bruce Cassidy’s exit from Vegas

After suggesting that their goaltending has been among the worst in the league this year, that didn’t help Cassidy’s cause. “No matter who you are, if you don’t get saves, you’re not going to win. That would sabotage any coach, not just Cassidy.” He added:

“That said, Cassidy is a great coach, but he’s demanding and… he really starts to grind on players. And we’ve seen it before—after a few years, that message can start to wear on players. I heard there were some intense moments last season, and while management backed Cassidy, it became clear this year that his message just wasn’t getting through the same way anymore.”

The Oilers Playoff Incident Was a Big Red Flag

Friedman said he heard right before the series with the Edmonton Oilers last season, and before Game 5, there was a really intense meeting between Cassidy and some of those players. “I think at the end of last year it kind of frayed their relationship.” He noted that some players said some things to management, but management backed Cassidy. Things changed this season, and it became pretty obvious, and obviously, Vegas management realized it too.

“Sometimes it’s just time, and I think that’s exactly what happened.” The players weren’t responding to his message anymore.”

The question will be, can the Golden Knights respond to Tortorella? He doesn’t exactly coach his teams with kid gloves on.

With Tortorella, it’s not like you’re going from a soft approach to a lighter one—it’s still going to be demanding. “…it’s not like we’re going to Santa Claus from Bruce Cassidy here, it’s very different, so you know, I think look like when you make the change this late in the year, you don’t have a lot of options.” He added, “…he can be very demanding, yes, but there are a lot of players who have enjoyed playing for him.”