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“We lost our spirit and lost our energy as a team,” McCrimmon said the next day. “We waited as long as we could on this.”

Job No. 1 of any GM, in any sport, is to identify the best talent for his team. McCrimmon has a spectacular record of doing that, including the signing of free agent Alex Pietrangelo, the bold trade for Jack Eichel, and last July’s sign-and-trade for Mitch Marner, just to name a few. He zeroes in on top-end talent and gets after ‘em with that dog-on-a-bone mentality fans across the league only wish they saw more routinely from, say, alleged scoring forwards.

Job No. 2 for the GM? Identifying what needs fixing in the moment, be it roster or coach or scouting/management staff. Alacrity matters. The best have the sense, skill, and conviction of top emergency room doctors. The worst, well, you know … there’s always another season, right? The league’s new schedule comes out every July, barring a lockout now and then.

In Cassidy, McCrimmon had the coach who directed his team to its lone Cup title in 2023, only 12 months after being turfed by the Bruins, and yet he felt that roster and coach no longer could get the job done. By McCrimmon’s eye, he had a team dying in the waiting room. Vegas had won only five times since play resumed out of the Olympic break and only three times in the 10 games (3-5-2) leading into Cassidy’s firing day.

Time to move on, said McCrimmon, no matter the names, including Cassidy’s and his own, chiseled into the Cup fewer than 36 months earlier. So Cassidy paid the price, but that’s coaching, and the risk comes often with rich reward (in Cassidy’s case, the year-plus remaining on a five-year guaranteed contract worth upward of $25 million).

In a copycat league, no matter how the “Torts” tetanus booster shot plays out along The Strip, the bet here is that McCrimmon’s move will prove a wakeup call to a substantial contingent of his GM brotherhood, particularly among the 16 collecting their playoff “DNQ” slips.

McCrimmon’s move also will catch the attention of the majority of club owners, particularly the 25 tailored suits whose benches do not have a Cup winner in charge. Only Joel Quenneville (Ducks), Mike Sullivan (Rangers), Jon Cooper (Lightning), Paul Maurice (Panthers), Craig Berube (Maple Leafs), Jared Bednar (Avalanche) and Tortorella have that gravitas.

Be it GM or owner, seeing a Cup-winning coach get whacked, so soon after winning and so late in the season, at the very least will be reason to examine who is that guy calling the shots behind their bench. It should underscore the need of immediacy, the value of winning, which is what the fans of their teams want most when they file into their building or pay the cable bill that beams the games into their homes. They watch for wins, not for “game experience” and in-house entertainment (roll the Kiss Cam!!!).

Keep in mind, just perusing the above names of Cup-winning coaches on the job today, Berube does not look safe in Toronto, where GM Brad Treliving recently was canned. Sullivan should be safe in New York, but this was a disastrous season for the Rangers and ownership there is almost as unpredictable as the White House. It might sound nuts to fire him, but … you know, New York, New York.

The Maple Leafs and Rangers are among the 16 DNQs, and a case could be made that 10 or more of the 16 at least will look at the coaching position in a different light following the Cassidy firing. In part, that’s because a number of them will want to talk to Cassidy ASAP with a hope of signing him to his next five-year deal, most likely with a 20-30 percent pay increase, depending on the city. He is that good. The Maple Leafs will want to talk to him, provided they can get their front office in place soon enough.

If the Predators and Senators miss the playoffs, they should come calling. Cassidy was born and raised in Ottawa, is fluent in French, and would be a logical fit if the Senators care to move on from Travis Green. However, after Boston and Las Vegas, Cassidy just might not want to go home again.

The early returns on Tortorella showed promise. The Golden Knights put up back-to-back wins for the first time since March 12-14, albeit against cupcake DNQs in the Canucks and Flames. The Torts Traveling Salvation Show was in Edmonton on Saturday night, facing an Oilers team that this season denied Cassidy’s club from ever taking a lead in three games.

Tortorella, not promised anything by McCrimmon after this relief role, is in good position. He is good enough, accomplished enough, and savvy enough to make this a positive return to the bright lights, lock down full-time work in the desert, or land behind the bench with another NHL team.

His exit a year ago from Philadelphia was rough, some of it by his own doing. Frustrated as a lost season was closing, he said he wasn’t interested in learning how to coach a team destined to miss the playoffs. Who would? The honesty was off-putting to management and the fan base. The front office, already with an eye on replacing him with Rick Tocchet, kicked him to the curb with nine games to go.

A tough business for sure. Cassidy was cut free with eight games to go. The market now will come to him, just as it has again for Tortorella.

Milan Lucic’s final NHL appearance came early in the 2023-24 season after rejoining the Bruins.Barry Chin/Globe Staff

TIME TO GO

Lucic looks to be all but done

No telling what’s ahead for Milan Lucic, but Sunday portends to be Looch’s final day of competitive hockey. His Fife Flyers wrap up their season in Dundee, roughly 15 miles southwest of Carnoustie, and both Scottish clubs failed to qualify for the Elite Ice Hockey League playoffs.

Lucic, who began this season under a tryout agreement with AHL Springfield, joined Fife in December and entered this weekend’s back-to-back vs. Dundee with a meager production line of 5-7–12 in 26 games. Unless he cares to seek another European career rehab next fall, it’s hard to imagine, at age 38, the hulking winger would find a work lifeline in the NHL or North American minor pros.

“I give him credit for trying, and for wanting to keep it going,” one of his longtime Boston pals told me shortly after Lucic left to play in Scotland. “But, c’mon Looch, it’s time. You made a lot of money, had a long NHL career, go enjoy life.”

Lucic will remain in the United Kingdom for at least the rest of the month. He has committed to suiting up for a couple of USA-Canada exhibition games in Edinburgh, April 25-26, joining a Canadian squad that will include ex-NHLers Mike Green, Mathieu Perreault, Karl Alzner, Riley Sheahan, and Nathan Beaulieu. Fellow Fife Flyer Garet Hunt, one of Lucic’s teammates from their long-ago WHL Vancouver Giants days, also will wear the red maple leaf.

Three familiar names will wear Uncle Sam’s red, white, and blue in ex-Bruin Mike Knuble, Scott Darling, and Bobby Ryan. By the way, Knuble’s 21-year-old son, Cole, recently turned pro out of Notre Dame and signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Flyers.

As things stand, Lucic’s résumé will read that he wore the Spoked-B in his final NHL game on Oct. 21, 2023, in Los Angeles. He logged 12:15 in ice time, and recorded the primary assist on newcomer Morgan Geekie’s go-ahead goal in the second period of a 4-2 win over the Kings.

The Bruins were off to a 4-0-0 season start and all looked promising for Lucic, who logged 0-2–2 through four games.

In November ‘23 while sidelined with an injury, Lucic was arrested on domestic assault and battery charges , which were dropped three months later when his wife opted not to testify against him. On the day the charges were dropped, the Bruins officially cut ties with him.

Lucic entered the NHL/NHLPA’s player assistance program after his arrest. His wife, in social media posts, one of which included an idyllic beach photo of the entire family, praised him as a devoted dad.

A fearsome fighter in his peak NHL days, Lucic collected 233 goals and 586 points in 1,177 regular-season games, and has his name on the Stanley Cup with the 2011 championship Bruins. Per puckpedia.com, his NHL career earnings were just north of $75 million.

ETC.

Weekend play arrived with the Bruins on the brink of being the first NHL club this season with four 25-goal scorers. The Lightning and Maple Leafs topped the charts last season, each with five scorers to reach the 25 plateau.

Leading the way ahead of Saturday’s faceoff in Tampa: Morgan Geekie (career-high 34), David Pastrnak (29), Pavel Zacha (career-high 28), and Viktor Arvidsson (24).

The Sabres of 1974-75 and Canadiens (of course) of 1982-83 hold the record for most 25-goal scorers in a season with eight.

For Buffalo, it was Rick Martin (52 goals), Rene Robert (40), Gilbert Perreault (39), Don Luce (33), Danny Gare (31), Rick Dudley (31), Craig Ramsay (26), and Jim Lorentz (25).

For Montreal, it was Mark Napier (40), Steve Shutt (35), Mario Tremblay (30), Pierre Mondou (29), Ryan Walter (29), Guy Lafleur (27), Mats Naslund (26), and Doug Wickenheiser (25).

As the Artemis II crew of four closed in on flying by the backside of the moon, let us recall the last (most recent) human boot prints on the lunar surface were placed by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in December 1972.

Just six months earlier, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup again, their second in three seasons. Surely, many titles would follow for those prolific, swashbuckling Bruins (spoiler alert: It took nearly 39 more trips around the sun and some out-of-this-universe netminding by Tim Thomas in 2011).

On the night of Dec. 14, 1972, amid Cernan and Schmitt packing up as the men in the moon, the Bruins improved to 19-8-3 with a 4-2 win at Boston Garden. Wayne Cashman (two goals), Mike “Shaky” Walton, and Fred O’Donnell pumped four by Gilles Villemure (you were expecting Eddie Giacomin?) in a 55-shot assault on the Rangers net. The Bruins of the day rarely resisted the opportunity to launch pucks.

In the spring, Ken Dryden and the Canadiens became the champs of the 16-team NHL, besting the Blackhawks, 4-2, in the Cup Final. The Original 16 then included the Atlanta Flames, the Minnesota North Stars, and the California Golden Seals.

Atlanta eventually moved to Calgary and won a Cup. The “No Stars” won their Cup as the Dallas Stars. The Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, working there as the Barons (stick salute, Dennis Maruk), then were folded into the Minnesota roster two years later.

Charlie McAvoy (left) is no offensive David Pastrnak, but he does lead Bruins defenseman with 11 goals and 47 assists.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

Much-improved backline scoring has been widely overlooked amid the Bruins’ strong recovery. Over the first one-third of the season (27 games), their defenseman scored a paltry five goals. Over the next 49 games, leading into Saturday’s matchup against the Lightning, they scored 29 times, for a total of 34 (led by Charlie McAvoy with 11). The Bruins’ record in the first 27 games was 15-12-0; across the next 49 it was 28-13-8. Without that punch-through from the blue line, they’re not in the playoff conversation … In the 25 seasons concluded in the 21st century, only three clubs have swapped out coaches during the season and gone on to win the Stanley Cup. With eight games to go in 1999-2000, general manager Lou Lamoriello canned Robbie Ftorek in favor of Larry Robinson and the Devils went on to win. In 2008-09, Dan Bylsma took over for Michel Therrien and he led the Penguins to their first Cup with Sidney Crosby, then age 21, on the roster. Craig Berube was named as Mike Yeo’s replacement during the 2018-19 season, which ultimately led to the Blues clinching Game 7 of the Cup Final over the Bruins on Causeway Street … Mason McTavish, the skilled center chosen No. 3 in the 2021 draft by Anaheim, has slipped down the order amid the Ducks’ revival under Joel Quenneville. After averaging roughly 20 goals and 44 points the last three years, he entered the weekend with 14-20–34 in 68 games, held out at times as a healthy scratch. He is in year No. 1 of a six-year/$42 million guarantee. He’s only 23, too young for trade protection, and has the skills and contract not to be floating around the bottom six or press box … On the “NHL @TheRink” podcast hosted by nhl.com’s Dan Rosen and Shawn Roarke, former defenseman Chris Pronger mused that the Maple Leafs could be headed to a sticky conversation with Auston Matthews, perhaps telling their elite scorer “we need to move off you.” Now 28 years old and with 428 career goals, all for Toronto, Matthews has two years remaining with an average annual value of $13.25 million. If they ever get real with that conversation, the Maple Leafs first would have to get him to surrender his no-move clause. Possible destinations would include Anaheim and San Jose, along with perhaps Utah, Chicago, New York (Rangers), and either of the Florida franchises. Hope there’s a live mike around in the Panthers’ room if Matthews and Brad Marchand end up in adjacent lockers … Apologies here for failing last week to include Keith Yandle among the Bay State boys to reach the 1,000-game plateau in the NHL. Yandle, who played at Milton High and later Cushing Academy, played 15-plus seasons and logged 1,109 regular-season games on the blue line. For penance, I’ve committed to five laps around Castle Island, which, depending on market rates, may include a victory clam roll or two at Sully’s.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.