The Vegas Golden Knights have hired Bruce Cassidy as their next coach, according to an announcement from the team. Cassidy was abruptly fired by the Boston Bruins earlier this month following their loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Cassidy will replace former coach Peter DeBoer, who was fired by the Golden Knights in May after the team missed the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
Cassidy will become the third coach in the Golden Knights’ five-year history. Vegas has reached the conference finals in three of those five seasons.
The 57 year old had served as the Bruins’ coach since the 2016-17 season. Cassidy was named as the Bruins interim coach when he took over for Claude Julien, who was fired midseason.
During his six seasons in Boston, Cassidy accumulated a 245-108-46 record and won the Jack Adams Award as the league’s best coach in 2020. Cassidy led the Bruins to the playoffs in each of his six seasons, including a Stanley Cup Final appearance during the 2018-19 campaign.
Following Boston’s loss to the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, the Bruins hadn’t advanced past the second round of the postseason.
Cassidy will inherit an extremely talented roster that includes star center Jack Eichel, whom the organization acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres in November 2021. The Golden Knights finished the 2021-22 season with a 43-31-8 record (94 points) and were just four points from securing the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
