Did the Edmonton Oilers err in asking for permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy while Kris Knoblauch is still under contract? I believe they did and I wrote about it yesterday, but today I want to look at recent hires across the NHL to see how they were handled.

I had many people suggest that the Oilers’ reaching out was a normal practice and referenced a clip from Elliotte Friedman. I reached out to Friedman to get more context, as his comment was brief.

“There are situations where teams have a good sense of who they could get, but I was more focused on coaches, who are on the hot seat,” he said. “Often, they know a team is looking elsewhere. This situation is a bit different.”

It is different. When coaches are fired during the season, there are cases where the team has a new coach in place before firing the existing coach. That happens because they have games to play and need a coach right away, however, in the off-season, there is no urgency to have a coach replaced the day you fire him. In fact, I can’t recall a team firing a coach in the off-season and naming his replacement the same day or even within the next two or three days.

After yesterday’s article was posted, I had a current NHL head coach reach out. He asked to remain anonymous but texted me this: “In the off-season, I have told teams I wouldn’t talk to them about their coaching job unless it was vacant. During the season is a bit different because there is the urgency of games, but when the season is over, I didn’t want to be in a position to take a guy’s job before he was let go. I’d hope other coaches would do the same.”

And for me, that is the point. Bruce Cassidy said in an interview last week on Fan 590 that he would interview for any job. He wanted to coach and even said he’d love the opportunity to coach in Canada and help bring back the Stanley Cup to Canada. He has a very good resume. It makes sense that teams would be interested in hiring him, and if they were, just fire your coach and interview him.

Let’s take a look at recent firings and hirings that occurred in the off-season to see how they unfolded.

Boston fired Jim Montgomery on November 19th, 2024, and assistant coach Joe Sacco was named interim head coach for the final 60 games. The Bruins announce at season’s end that they will interview coaches. They hired Marco Strum on June 5th.

Chicago fired Luke Richardson on December 6th, 2024, and named Anders Sorensen (AHL affiliate head coach) as interim head coach. They announced the coaching search at the end of the season. Jeff Blashill was hired May 22nd.

Philadelphia fired John Tortorella on March 27th, 2025, and Brad Shaw (assistant coach) was named interim coach. At the end of season, they started interviewing candidates and hired Rick Tocchet on May 14th.

The New York Rangers fired Peter Laviolette on April 19th. They hired Mike Sullivan on May 2nd.

Anaheim fired Greg Cronin on April 19th. They hired Joel Quenneville on May 8th.

Seattle let Dan Bylsma go on April 21st. They hired Lane Lambert on May 29th.

Pittsburgh fired Mike Sullivan on April 28th. They hired Dan Muse on June 4th.

On April 30th, Vancouver announced Rick Tocchet had chosen not to return as head coach. Adam Foote was hired on May 14th.

Dallas fired Pete DeBoer on June 6th after losing in the third round. Dallas hired Glen Gulutzan on July 1st.

Nine coaching changes. Three had coaches with interim tags, and when the season ended, they started interviewing candidates. Four teams fired their head coach between two and 11 days after the season ended, then started interviewing candidates. One coach stepped down, and the other team fired their coach quickly after losing out in the playoffs.

No timeline suggests they spoke to other coaches before firing their existing head coach.

The Ottawa Senators fired DJ Smith on December 18th, 2023, and named Jacques Martin interim head coach. At the end of the season, they interviewed coaches and hired Travis Green on May 7th.

New Jersey fired Lindy Ruff on March 24th, and assistant Travis Green was named interim head coach for the final few weeks. At the end of the season, the Devils began their search for a head coach. They hired Sheldon Keefe on May 23rd.

The Buffalo Sabres fired Don Granato on April 16th, a day after their season ended. They hired Lindy Ruff on April 22nd.

The San Jose Sharks fired Dan Quinn on April 24th. They hired Ryan Warsofsky on June 13th.

On May 6th, Rick Bowness announced he was retiring. The Winnipeg Jets hired Scott Arniel on May 24th.

Toronto fired Sheldon Keefe after another first-round playoff exit on May 9th. They hired Craig Berube on May 17th.

Two teams finished the season with interim head coaches and then conducted interviews with multiple coaches. Two teams fired their coach within a week of the regular season ending, while Toronto fired its head coach after another playoff loss, and Rick Bowness retired. The only team with a quick turnaround was Buffalo, which hired Ruff one week after firing Granato.

Washington and Peter Laviolette mutually agreed to part ways. The Capitals hired Spencer Carbury on May 30th.

Calgary fired Darryl Sutter on May 1st, 2023. They hired Ryan Huska on June 12th.

Nashville hired Barry Trotz as its new GM on February 27th, 2023. He would work with David Poile for the next few months as a transition period before taking over on his own on July 1st. John Hynes was the Predators’ coach, but they fired him and assistant coach Dan Lambert on May 30th. The Predators hired Andrew Brunette two days later.

Two teams fired their coach and hired his replacement six weeks later, while Nashville is the first situation that somewhat resembles the Oilers talking to another coach before firing their own. Nashville hired a new GM six weeks before the end of the season, and often, when a new GM is hired, he looks to hire his own coach.

On October 28th, 2021, Joel Quenneville resigned as head coach of the Florida Panthers. Andrew Brunette was named interim head coach and coached the final 75 games. The Panthers opted to interview other coaches, and on June 22nd, the Panthers hired Paul Maurice as head coach.

On August 16th, 2016, Patrick Roy resigned as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche due to “a lack of say in key decisions and philosophical differences with the organization.” With training camp fast approaching, the Avalanche did a quick interview process and hired Jared Bednar on August 25th.

On April 18th, 2018, Bill Peters resigned as head coach of the Hurricanes. In a press release, he said, “I feel the incoming general manager should have the ability to hire his own head coach. I also want to thank Don Waddell and the entire front office and PNC Arena staff.” Carolina hired Rod Brind’Amour on May 8th, 2018. Brind’Amour had been an assistant for seven years in Carolina before getting promoted to head coach.

Arizona (now Utah) fired Rick Tocchet on May 9th, 2021. The day after the regular season ended. They hired Andre Tourigny on July 1st, 2021.

Tampa Bay hired Jon Cooper on March 25th. They promoted him from their AHL affiliate after firing Guy Boucher. Assistant coaches Martin Raymond and Dan Lacroix ran the bench for one game after Boucher was fired, but Cooper was hired the day after that game and has been with Tampa Bay ever since.

Montreal hired Marty St. Louis on February 9th, 2022. He replaced Dominique Ducharme, who was fired earlier that day. St. Louis was initially given the interim head coach tag, but had that removed on July 1st, 2022.

Minnesota hired John Hynes on November 23rd, 2023. He replaced Dean Evason immediately.

St. Louis hired Jim Montgomery on November 25th, 2024. He replaced Drew Bannister after the Blues got off to a 9-12-1 start. Montgomery had been fired by Boston six days earlier.

Detroit hired Todd McLellan on December 26th, 2024, after firing Derek Lalonde.

Columbus hired Rick Bowness as interim head coach on January 12th after firing Dean Evason. The Blue Jackets removed the interim title on April 16th.

Los Angeles named DJ Smith the interim head coach on March 1st, 2026. He replaced Jim Hiller. The Kings are currently conducting interviews to find their next head coach.

The Vegas Golden Knights named John Tortorella their interim head coach on March 29th, 2026. He replaced Bruce Cassidy, who was fired with eight games left in the season.

The New York Islanders hired Pete DeBoer on April 5th, 2026. He replaced Patrick Roy, who was fired with four games remaining in the season.

Any suggestion that the Oilers are trying to interview coaches when they don’t have a vacancy in the off-season is something that happens often in the NHL is mistaken. The only current head coach hired in similar circumstances was Andrew Brunette in Nashville. But the Predators had hired a new GM in Trotz, and this was his first hire.

Stan Bowman didn’t hire Kris Knoblauch, but he did give him a three-year extension this past October.

A quick recap of the current 32 head coaching jobs.

Fifteen teams either fired their coaches soon after their regular season ended, or right after losing in the playoffs, or had a coach resign. Only one team, Buffalo, hired a replacement within one week. And Colorado did it in nine days, but that was in late August when Roy suddenly resigned.

Ten teams fired their coaches during the season and named a new interim head coach (often a current assistant coach or coach from the AHL) to finish the season. To date, seven have hired a different coach in the summer. Columbus and Montreal removed the tag for Bowness and St. Louis. Vegas is still playing under Tortorella while Los Angeles is conducting interviews, and it seems unlikely Smith will return.

Seven teams fired their coaches during the season and replaced them immediately with a new coach.

As I’ve outlined many times, if the Oilers felt it was best to fire Knoblauch last week and look for another coach, that would have been viewed as a normal decision. Teams fire coaches all the time, whether the coach is good or bad, but how they handled this situation is outside the norm of normal firing/hiring practices.

If it were during the season, like when Knoblauch was hired in November of 2023, that would have been acceptable too. But it is May, not letting Knoblauch go before asking for permission to speak to Cassidy is a bad look. It isn’t illegal, but it looks poorly on the organization, and it is not something that “other teams do regularly.”