Bruce Cassidy Signed; Who's Up Next For the Red Wings?

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The Detroit Red Wings still have a vacancy to fill before the season begins. The Vegas Golden Knights signed who I considered the top candidate. So, who’s up next on their list?

The Detroit Red Wings fired head coach, Jeff Blashill, following a dissapointing season. Blashill, who was just given a bad hand in his coaching tenure, took a lot of verbal abuse the past couple seasons. So the firing wasn’t really all that surprising.

The Red Wings, now that they fired Blashill, will be looking to remain on schedule with their rebuild and that means finding the perfect coach. To begin the off-season, the New York Islanders fired head coach, Barry Trotz who I thought would be a perfect coaching candidate. However, rumor has it that he quickly declined the position to look elsewhere.

That’s when I felt that the Red Wings were given a top notch candidate and the one that I wanted the most- Bruce Cassidy.

Cassidy led the Boton Bruins to the playoffs in each of his six seasons and even made a Stanley Cup appearance back in 2019. However, the uncertanity of the organization and their future made the front office feel as though it was time to part ways leavind Cassidy on the open market. Or at least he was on the open market.

The Vegas Golden Knights decided after missing the playoffs this past season that it was time to get rid of head coach, Pete DeBoer. So that coaching spot was probably incredibly appealing to many coaches looking for a job- inlcuding Cassidy.

Cassidy ended up signing with the Vegas Golden Knights a couple days ago and that took him off the market. So, now the Red Wings need to figure out a gameplan on what they are going to do.

With Cassidy signed, and Trotz not interested, the Red Wings are going to have to dig deeper than they probably would’ve liked. But, it could be worth it. So, who’s next up for the Red Wings?

Fomrer Dallas Stars Head Coach, Jim Montgomery. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Who’s Next Up for The Red Wings?

The Detroit Red Wings coaching position is going to be a process given they are in rebuild mode. Not many coaches want a team that doesn’t have the peices in place to make a run for the cup, but there are a couple out there. But, when you look at Yzerman’s coaching hire of Jon Cooper, that one seemed to work out alright for Tampa. So, who’s going to be the Red Wings ‘Jon Cooper’? Well, I have money on Jim Montgomery.

Why Jim Montgomery?

The Jim Montgomery expeiment in Dallas was short-lived. However, it was an incredibly productive tenure and nobody can say it wasn’t either. Now, the one argument I’d accept was that it was a weird year when he was coaching and that his time in the playoffs is *tainted* of the sorts. Nonetheless, he did get them there after three years of poor played hockey.

The reasoning behind this hire is the success he had as a head coach, but it’s also what he did as an assistant coach behind Craig Berube on the Blues bench. Leading a top notch power play unit, he did what he was asked to do.

He has had success on all levels of coaching and has done well everywhere he has went and coached. Not to mention the most appealing part of all this- he is not in the mindset to retire. So, hiring him onto a rebuilding team gives him a chance to really understand the players strengths, weaknesses, and build a tight-knit locker room that all wants the same thing- to win the Cup.

Why Not Jim Montgomery?

Jim Montgomery’s tenure came to an end rather quickly after being fired/quit. By that I mean Montgomery was fired for “unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.” That was later found out to be alchol abuse.

He went and checked himself into rehab before returning behind the bench to be an assistant coach to the Blues. Now, there hasn’t seemed to be a relapse, but that doesn’t mean the stress of being a head coach wont get to him again. Which, in the case, might as well just look elsewhere because we could be wasting time. And I feel that’s what will scare most people.

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