The Stanley Cup was awarded Sunday night to the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6. It came nearly twenty years to the day that the Hurricanes claimed their first Cup. That one, of course, ended the Edmonton Oilers’ storied 2006 run to the Stanley Cup Final. In hindsight, it’s interesting how nearly identical the two teams’ paths have gone since, long playoff droughts included.
However, whereas the ‘Canes have their next Cup, the Oilers are still searching for their first since the days of Mark Messier. On top of that, they’re still searching for a new head coach after letting go of Kris Knoblauch. Moving on from him made sense in a vacuum; he likely wasn’t guiding this team to another Cup Final. But Edmonton let him go with the thought they could hire Vegas’s own recently-fired bench boss, Bruce Cassidy.
That hasn’t materialized, as the Golden Knights claimed to be so busy with this year’s playoff run that they couldn’t afford the Oilers an interview. Well, with the 2025–26 NHL season finished, so too is that excuse to hold Cassidy back. So now, we have a new question, in a coaching-search saga that has gotten into such deep soap-opera territory that Mike Babcock is featuring in it. Will Vegas finally relent, and let Cassidy interview with Edmonton?
How could the Golden Knights’ reasoning have made sense?
The Golden Knights’ stated reason for not making Cassidy available was always flimsy. It came at the exact same time they had to apologize for failing to live up to required meeting availabilities. Thus, the reason ended up sounding much like the reason a kid gives for not sharing candy with their friends, after getting home well past bedtime.
But let’s play devil’s advocate here. Truthfully, the Golden Knights have always been very serious about on-ice success. A team doesn’t make the playoffs in eight of their first nine seasons, go to three Cup Finals, and win one of them if they’re not serious. And given their Western Conference Final opponent was the Colorado Avalanche, there’s validity in needing to prepare.
General Manager Kelly McCrimmon isn’t like most general managers. Usually, a GM’s playoff role is to be like McCrimmon’s boss, George McPhee, and emote throughout all the twists and turns. McCrimmon, by contrast, does not stop figuring out how to give his team competitive advantages. He’s legitimately locked in, all business, all the time; ruthless, like the franchise itself.
It’s still flimsy reasoning because, at the end of the day, McCrimmon has assistants. Any of his Assistant GMs could have been instructed to handle the Cassidy file. It’s not like the Oilers were trying to set up an offseason trade framework for William Karlsson. But, all things considered, the moves made by Vegas, and McCrimmon himself, gives credibility to their alibi.
Vegas isn’t making many friends, which is both good and bad for the Oilers
Dialing it back to the missed media availability, by the way. That landed the Golden Knights in hot water with the NHL’s offices in New York. Ultimately, it cost VGK a second-round draft pick. Unlike the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils, Vegas did not get “pick at the end of the round” relief upon appeal. That’s how serious this violation was.
From Cassidy, to the Mitch Marner saga, to what purportedly led to their media snub (Brayden McNabb being suspended for injuring Anaheim’s Ryan Poehling), Vegas continues to live by the “no friends in the industry” mantra. This is both a positive and a negative for the Oilers. It’s a negative, first of all, because the Golden Knights have proven that they can do whatever’s legal in writing. If Cassidy is still under contract for one more year, no team can force Vegas to change their tune.
No individual team is able to, or will be motivated to, help the Oilers prevail on this matter. But the NHL itself might. The league has already both spoken to Vegas about the Cassidy debate, and not been thrilled to have to deal with the Babcock saga. Now, with the Golden Knights’ main reason no longer in effect, there might be firmer directives issued by the League offices.
All this is to say, the Oilers are in tough because no team wants to deal with Vegas right now, nor help out the Oilers. Their lone hope is the NHL itself, with the Knights currently in the League’s doghouse off the ice. Such is reality when you’re trying to achieve something with a team that pushes the limits of what’s allowed.
This coaching search needs to end, one way or another
Time is ticking on the Oilers. At the time of writing this, we are officially exactly halfway through the month of June. The 2026 NHL Draft is less than two weeks away, and we are just over two weeks away from the start of NHL Free Agency. Those are both very significant events to be fully-staffed for.
What’s being said especially is that free agents want to know which man they will have running the bench they sit on. Some players prefer Cassidy, others Babcock, and others still a Jay Woodcroft type. If they don’t have certainty as to who their boss will be, they’re not going to be as motivated to sign with Edmonton.
That means the Oilers have to make this decision, and fast. And that’s why the Oilers might end up being thankful that Carolina polished off the Knights in six games and not seven. If Vegas does allow a Cassidy interview, there’s three days of extra runway now to deem him “the guy.”
Either way, even if Vegas doesn’t approve the interview, it might be best to just get this figured out right away. Woodcroft, along with Craig Berube, Patrick Roy, and a few other names have been floated out there. If Babcock remains under League review and Cassidy remains not-an-option, pick a different guy and just run with him. This team cannot afford to keep beating around the bush.
The verdict: Cautious optimism (but really, who knows anymore?)
Trying to predict the outcome of a hockey game is really difficult. Sometimes, trying to predict what the results will be of off-ice drama is even tougher. This matter really is going to go one of two ways- either the Oilers, with or without help, get a Cassidy interview. Or, the Knights keep “withholding” permission, and the roller-coaster ride persists.
This observer sees enough details to reasonably infer that the Oilers might finally be allowed that long-awaited interview. After seeing John Tortorella will their team to another Cup Final, Vegas will likely feel content releasing their fired guy. Ultimately though, this is still the Vegas Golden Knights at the end of the day, and they can just as easily dig their heels in further. Nothing is certain, but hope is not lost… yet.
Follow The Oil Rig on social media!
