Insider says NHL team unwilling to help Edmonton's latest coaching plans
Bruce Cassidy and Kris Knoblauch just turned Edmonton's coaching question into the Oilers' biggest summer fight.
The new twist is a sharp one. Frank Seravalli reported that the Oilers sought permission to interview Cassidy as they weigh major coaching staff changes.
And the answer, at least for now, makes this even messier. Seravalli added that the Golden Knights have withheld permission from a division rival.
That is what gives this story real bite. Edmonton is not just doing routine homework on a coach who happens to be available. The Oilers are taking a run at a Stanley Cup-winning name while their current coach is still sitting there.
Knoblauch was only extended in October on a 3-year deal that runs through 2028-29. That should have given him a layer of security. Instead, it now looks more like paperwork than protection.
Cassidy is not some random fallback option either. Vegas fired him on March 30 and replaced him with John Tortorella, which suddenly made one of the league's strongest coaching resumes available.
That alone changes how people in Edmonton read the whole bench. Once a coach like Cassidy is out there, every team with doubts starts asking harder questions.
To this point, sources say @GoldenKnights have withheld permission from division rival.
Gamesmanship? Perhaps. Mostly unprecedented for role.
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Edmonton's latest coaching move reportedly creating friction around the NHL
The Oilers could have stayed quiet, reviewed Knoblauch internally, and sold patience. Instead, the report says they tried to get in front of Cassidy.
That is not subtle. It tells the room, the market, and probably Knoblauch too that Stan Bowman is at least exploring a real upgrade path. And this comes only days after Seravalli said a coaching change in Edmonton was more likely than not.
The Golden Knights blocking permission only adds another layer. It slows Edmonton down, but it also makes the chase look even more aggressive because Vegas clearly did not want to help a Pacific Division rival.
For Knoblauch, this is where it gets dangerous. If Edmonton wants Cassidy badly enough to ask, then it is already admitting the current setup may not be enough to get Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl over the hump.
And that is the whole story now. Not whether the Oilers like Knoblauch. Whether they think Bruce Cassidy gives them a better shot right now.
If Vegas keeps the door shut, maybe Edmonton backs into continuity. But once the Oilers made this move, the summer changed.
Kris Knoblauch is no longer just under review. He is coaching in the shadow of Bruce Cassidy now, and that is a hard place for any bench boss to be.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 11, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ross Colton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Parker Kelly | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nico Sturm | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Danila Yurov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brock Faber | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Quinn Hughes | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | - | - | - | |
| Zach Bogosian | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Marcus Foligno | - | - | - | |
| Nick Foligno | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||