Pressure mounting on Vegas to let Edmonton Oilers hire Bruce Cassidy
The Vegas Golden Knights have still not allowed the Edmonton Oilers permission to interview head coach Bruce Cassidy, and things are starting to get ugly.
News broke last week that Vegas was withholding permission from the Oilers to interview Cassidy. The veteran coach was fired late last season, but still remains employed with the Golden Knights with one more season left on his contract.
As of Tuesday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Vegas was “not inclined” to give permission to either the Oilers or the LA Kings to interview their former head coach. If that holds up, it would be a pretty unprecedented move for a franchise to prevent a fired coach from finding new work.
As for Bruce Cassidy, sources indicate that was not part of the conversation and his status is unchanged as of this morning
Vegas is not inclined to give permission to Edmonton or LA. We will see about Toronto
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 19, 2026
The situation has blown up to the point that the NHL’s Coaches Association felt compelled to release a statement on the situation.
“The NHLCA has been closely monitoring the situation involving Bruce Cassidy,” the statement started. “While we respect the League’s rules and processes, it is our position that coaches who remain under contract, but are no longer working for their Club, should not be prevented from pursuing other employment opportunities.
“It would be unprecedented at the head coaching level should multiple teams be denied permission to speak with Coach Cassidy. The situation is still unfolding, but our priority is to protect the interests of our members in this type of circumstance.”
Statement from the NHLCA: pic.twitter.com/JEpGq3uUQW
— NHL Coaches’ Association (@NHLCoachesAssoc) May 19, 2026
The situation is coming as Vegas is under more scrutiny than usual. The NHL recently took away a second-round pick from the team and fined head coach John Tortorella a total of $100,000 for violating the league’s media policy.
This came after the Golden Knights refused to open their room to reporters and Tortorella declined to speak to the media after they eliminated the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Notably, the NHL Coaches Association did not release a statement on Tortorella getting fined.
It seems like a resolution will have to come out of this situation sooner rather than later. Pressure is mounting on Vegas to allow Cassidy to interview elsewhere, and it feels like unnecessary drama to drag this out any longer than it already has.
Cassidy is seen as the favourite to land the Oilers’ head coaching job if they can get permission to hire him. If they can’t, Edmonton GM Stan Bowman will have to pivot to other potential candidates.
Craig Berube is expected to interview with Edmonton, and Peter Laviolette is another name that has been connected to the team.
It’s a strange situation to be in for the Oilers, whose patience is likely wearing thin.