Oilers would have gotten their guy 'if they’d just waited a week'

"I think Bruce Cassidy would have been a better fit, and had they waited a week, they would have had him,” said Pedersen. When the response was that’s big news, Pedersen clarified, “…that’s what I think, and I’ve talked to the agents and they’re all like that’s exactly what happened.”

He added that Babcock has the credentials to be a good fit for Edmonton and said he’s not a bad guy, “but every time he comes on my show, my phone blows up with players that hate him.”

So, let’s be clear. Pedersen is giving his opinion here, not stating a fact. No one knows for sure that the Golden Knights would have released Cassidy to talk to the Oilers about a coaching position. The feeling is that they were never going to give him permission to talk to a division rival about coaching the team and would rather pay him to not coach than coach Edmonton. The Oilers seemed to understand that, which is why they gave up waiting and pivoted to Babcock.

The Oilers leadership group talked to Babcock about their situation, and they were sold that he was the guy. They never got the same opportunity to talk with Cassidy, so we may never know if he was ever seriously in the running.