The Maple Leafs shouldn’t settle on a new head coach before June 17.
That’s the last possible day for the (riveting) Stanley Cup Final and the point at which Bruce Cassidy, the top coach on the market, might become available.
The Vegas Golden Knights have thus far declined to let Cassidy interview for coaching jobs, but there’s some thought that maybe, when their playoffs come to an end, they might revisit that position, especially if it’s for a team in the Eastern Conference.
Like the Leafs, that is.
And Cassidy, crucially, is open to the possibility.
The 61-year-old told The Athletic this week that he would “have interest in any opening” and was open to speaking to the Leafs, if allowed, to see if the fit was right on both sides.
Cassidy has indicated that he simply wants to “go back to work” after being fired by the Golden Knights in March with eight games left in the regular season.
The opportunities, though, have shrunk to almost none with the Los Angeles Kings choosing Peter Laviolette and the Edmonton Oilers interested in hiring Mike Babcock.
Which means it could come down to the Leafs or nothing for Cassidy. The game of musical chairs might just work out in Toronto’s favour.
That, of course, depends on whether the Golden Knights allow Cassidy to interview.
Language in Cassidy’s contract with the Golden Knights states the team must grant him permission to do so. And if he terminated the contract, Cassidy still wouldn’t be allowed to interview because of a noncompete.
Before the start of the final, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said, “We’ve been consistent that our focus, currently, is on the Stanley Cup playoffs and the teams have respected that. I’ve spoken with Bruce, he understands this as well.”
So … maybe? Especially since the Leafs aren’t a direct rival, like the Kings or Oilers?
There is no downside in waiting a little while longer if you’re new Leafs GM John Chayka, who fired Craig Berube a month ago. Free agency doesn’t start for another two and a half weeks, and as Chayka said, the team won’t be operating under any “artificial timeline” as far as hiring their next coach.
The Leafs are conducting in-person interviews with five candidates this week, one of whom is Joe Pavelski, who has never coached a day in the NHL.
Cassidy was the most qualified coach out there at the start of the offseason and he remains that now. The only other candidate who might have had credentials to match Cassidy was Laviolette, who interviewed with the Leafs only to land in Los Angeles.
Cassidy is exactly what Chayka says he wants in a new coach.
While noting the team had an “interesting” roster with stars, vets and young players on the rise, the Leafs GM said, “We’re looking for a coach that has the experience of dealing with a lot of those things and has some versatility in their structure and approach, and can take this team to the next level.”
Cassidy has done that before — he’s taken two teams to the next level.
He replaced Claude Julien behind the Boston Bruins bench in 2017 and had them in the Stanley Cup Final two years later. He coached the Golden Knights to a championship in 2023, his first season there after replacing Peter DeBoer.
Chayka hasn’t given a lot of specifics about what he wants to see from the Leafs, but he has said that defensive improvement will be a priority. That is a major strength of Cassidy-coached teams, as is his ability to get the most out of veterans.
If the Leafs, a veteran squad that struggled mightily to defend under Berube last season, are serious about making the playoffs, and even contending again next season, Cassidy should be their guy — if they can get him.