Bruce Cassidy details his conversations with Bruins GM Don Sweeney after the end of the team’s season and says based on conversations at that time, he was “under the assumption” he’d be back as head coach next season.
Bruce Cassidy is heading to Sin City.
The former Boston Bruins bench boss is joining the Vegas Golden Knights as their next head coach.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Cassidy was fired on June 6 after spending five-plus seasons with the Bruins. He moved into the head coaching role in February 2017 and earned a 245-108-46 record with six playoff appearances in six attempts. The high point of his tenure came in 2019, when the team came within a game of winning the Stanley Cup Final. This season, the Bruins lost a seven-game, first-round series to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Golden Knights got their vacancy in May when they fired head coach Peter DeBoer after the team failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. He had arrived in Vegas during the 2019-20 season after being fired by the San Jose Sharks midseason.
Why Bruins' firing of Bruce Cassidy fails to address the real issue
Vegas reached the Cup Final in its first season of existence and followed that up with three more playoff appearances from 2019 to 2021. The team came into the 2021-22 season among the favorites to lift the Cup but missed the playoffs by four points after dealing with injuries and salary-cap hurdles.
Boston Bruins
Find the latest Boston Bruins news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
Now, Vegas has its new coach, while the Bruins face a laundry list of crucial questions.
The coach they just fired became the first coach hired in the 2022 offseason coaching carousel. On top of that, the futures of stars Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak remain unclear.
Cassidy may have already moved on from the Bruins, but the team – still without a head coach – has a long way to go before moving in the right direction.
