The Boston Bruins fired head coach Bruce Cassidy after six seasons Monday in a surprising move given his history of success with the club.
There are now six head-coach openings around the NHL -- the Bruins join the Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets -- along with three clubs making a decision on their interim coach from 2021-22.
Here's a glance at what happened and where it's going for both parties.
Was there any indication the Bruins might fire Cassidy?
Cassidy managed to get the Bruins into the playoffs in all six seasons he coached them, starting in 2016-17 when he took over from Claude Julien with 27 games remaining. That included a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, where they lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games, then two second-round losses, then a seven-game, first-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason. In the past four seasons, only the Tampa Bay Lightning (.698) had a higher regular-season points percentage than the Bruins (.667).
In other words, Bruce Cassidy's firing came as a shock to many in the hockey world ... except those who heard team president Cam Neely keep Cassidy's status in limbo after the season.
While Neely endorsed the return of GM Don Sweeney, he didn't do the same with Cassidy.
"I think we have to look at making some changes as far as how we play and the way we do some of the things," Neely said at the time. "I think Bruce is a fantastic coach. He's brought a lot of success to this organization. I like him as a coach. So we'll see where it goes. I do thing we need to make some changes, and Bruce alluded to that. We'll see where that goes."
For Cassidy, it went out the exit door.
Why fire him now?
Perhaps the Bruins just didn't want to delay the inevitable. Cassidy had one more year left on his contract. The Bruins were going to start next season with a significantly depleted lineup: Winger Brad Marchand and defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Mike Reilly and Matt Grzelcyk all had offseason surgeries with recovery times cutting into the 2022-23 season. Factor in Patrice Bergeron's uncertain status for next season, and the Bruins could have epically stumbled out of the gate in Cassidy's lame-duck season.
That doesn't really answer the primary question, which is "Why fire Bruce Cassidy?" There are a number of theories bouncing around the Boston hockey sphere. Was his relationship with the players strained after six years, manifesting in conflicts like the one that led Jake DeBrusk to seek a trade? Did enough players speak up during exit interviews to hasten their coach's exit?
Perhaps Cassidy was no longer a stylistic fit for how Neely envisioned he wanted the team to play? It's an offensive league and the Bruins were 15th in scoring. Was it really a Game 7 loss that determined his fate?
What it all inevitably leads to are questions about the direction of the franchise. The Bruins aren't going to do a tear-it-down rebuild ... but maybe taking a step back into the lottery in an injury-impacted season with a potential franchise pillar like Connor Bedard available in the 2023 draft wouldn't be the worst idea?
But the overwhelming sentiment out of Boston is that the Bruins are doing what many NHL teams do, which is to fire the coach when you can't "fire the players" or upper management.
The Bruins have seen their core erode over the past few seasons, with franchise icons such as Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask and David Krejci moving on. Sweeney has made a series of specious player personnel decisions to keep the Bruins relevant. They haven't drafted well; when they have, many of those prospects -- Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Donato, Danton Heinen, Anders Bjork, among others -- have ended up elsewhere.
Bruce Cassidy was their successful coach during all of this. Now he's the convenient scapegoat.
What's next for Bruce Cassidy?
Cassidy enters the most competitive coaching market in recent memory. As noted above, there currently are six open jobs in the NHL; the Bruins join the Stars, Red Wings, Flyers, Golden Knights and Jets. Jay Woodcroft, who just led the Edmonton Oilers to the Western Conference finals, served on an interim basis; so did Andrew Brunette with the Florida Panthers and Derek King with the Chicago Blackhawks.
So there are openings, but there are also plenty of coaches for those openings. Cassidy joins names like Barry Trotz, Pete DeBoer, Paul Maurice, John Tortorella and Rick Tocchet on the open market; a slew of assistant and associate coaches; and currently ostracized options like Mike Babcock and Joel Quenneville.
Cassidy is 57. His recent success isn't easily matched by other coaching candidates. His act may have worn thin in Boston, but it would be a breath of fresh air in other markets. While this isn't at the forefront for teams when hiring new head coaches, it should also be said that Cassidy is a tremendous, charismatic ambassador for a team, too.
One final thought: Golden Knights president of hockey operations George McPhee hired Cassidy in Washington. Vegas, baby?
What's next for the Bruins?
Early indications are that the Bruins are going to go younger and fresher. The leading candidate appears to be Jay Leach, 42, who coached Boston's AHL affiliate Providence Bruins from 2016-17 to 2020-21 before leaving to become an assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken. He'll be seriously considered.
If they're looking for previous head-coaching experience, how about former Stars coach Jim Montgomery, who has turned his life around as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues? Could the Bruins give a look at David Quinn, 55, the former Boston University head coach who gained three seasons of experience behind the New York Rangers' bench? Just because things didn't work out in his first NHL gig doesn't mean he can't get another chance -- just look at Cassidy.
And yes, Barry Trotz is also available. Boston makes geographic sense for him. And "to hire Barry Trotz" could be an emphatic retort to "Why fire Bruce Cassidy?"