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Golden Knights hire Bruce Cassidy as new head coach

The Boston Bruins have made the playoffs every season Cassidy has been at the helm, including a Stanley Cup finals appearance in 2019. (Getty)
The Bruins made the playoffs every season Cassidy has been at the helm, including a Stanley Cup finals appearance in 2019. (Getty)

The Vegas Golden Knights have hired former Boston Bruins bench boss Bruce Cassidy to serve as the third head coach in franchise history, the team announced on Tuesday.

Cassidy was fired by the Bruins on June 6, ending his six-season tenure with the franchise. Now, after being unemployed for just over a week, the 57-year-old will take over behind the Vegas bench.

With Boston, Cassidy tallied a 245-108-46 record through 399 regular-season contests. His club qualified for the postseason in six consecutive campaigns. This year, they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Ottawa, Ontario native led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, losing in seven games to the St. Louis Blues.

During the following season, Cassidy won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year. His team finished atop of the Atlantic Division with a 44-14-12 record and 100 points. They went on to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the second round of the 2020 playoffs.

In their five NHL seasons, the Golden Knights have largely been a model of consistency, making the playoffs in four of those five campaigns. They failed to qualify for the first time this past season after placing fourth in the Pacific Division with a disappointing 43-31-8 record and 94 points.

Cassidy becomes the third coach is club history, following Gerard Gallant — who now coaches the New York Rangers — and Peter DeBoer, who was just relieved of his duties at season's end after spending two and a half campaigns with the organization.

Following Cassidy’s hiring, the Philadelphia Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars remain the only franchises with head coaching vacancies.

Barry Trotz and DeBoer headline the list of established NHL bench bosses looking for work.

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