Leafs granted permission to interview fired Vegas coach
Toronto became the only NHL team to get permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy before hiring Jim Hiller as head coach.
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The Vegas Golden Knights confirmed that Toronto was the only NHL team granted permission to speak with fired head coach Bruce Cassidy.
Toronto announced the hire of Jim Hiller on Wednesday. Cassidy remains under contract with Vegas until June 30, 2027, requiring the Golden Knights to grant permission to any team seeking to interview him.
It was widely reported in May that the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings had interest in Cassidy but did not receive permission to speak with him. The Kings ultimately hired Peter Laviolette while the Oilers are reportedly targeting Mike Babcock.
"We had a situation where we did grant Bruce permission to speak to another team," Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said Wednesday. "That didn't come to fruition, but we'll deal with that on a case-by-case basis."
Cassidy called the situation "upsetting" in a May interview, reiterating his desire to return to coaching. "I want to go to work. I'm a hockey coach," he said. "Once you're fired, your contract's basically terminated, but the one thing people don't realize is you have no-compete clauses, so I can't resign today and go work for someone tomorrow."
Maple Leafs GM John Chayka said the team spent time with over 25 coaches during the hiring process before selecting Hiller as "the right person at the right time with the right group."