The Edmonton Oilers’ coaching search may have turned on a matter of timing, and not much else. After hiring Mike Babcock, the club wound up with a veteran bench boss many around the league believe was not its first target. That name was Bruce Cassidy.
Edmonton had real interest in Cassidy, who is behind the bench for the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Oilers even asked for permission to speak with him. Vegas said no, and Edmonton moved on.
But veteran broadcaster Rod Pedersen said the door might have opened if the Oilers had simply waited a little longer. Pedersen suggested that if Edmonton had held off for one more week, Cassidy may have become available.
He stressed that it was still speculation, since there was no guarantee Vegas would have let a division rival hire him, but Pedersen said multiple agents told him that was how it would have played out.
Instead, the Oilers settled on Babcock after talks with team leadership. Babcock brings a strong résumé, and the belief is that he could be a good fit in Edmonton. Still, the reporting points to Cassidy as the original plan.
In Columbus, the Zach Werenski situation has cooled, but it is not exactly finished. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic said on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Power Play this week that Werenski never formally asked for a trade, even though there were internal conversations about his future and the direction of the Blue Jackets.
Werenski has two years left on his deal, and the sense is that he wants to see Columbus prove it can become a playoff team before he commits long term. The uncertainty does not stop there, either.
Kirill Marchenko remains part of the picture, and so does the extension for Adam Fantilli. The tension around Werenski has eased for now, but people around the league do not sound ready to close the book on it.
If the Blue Jackets stumble early, this could become a fresh storyline fast.
For the moment, both sides appear to want to keep moving together. The bigger challenge for Columbus is convincing its top defenseman that the organization is headed in the right direction.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, spent the offseason aiming high and ending up short. Kyle Dubas wanted to make a real splash, including a push to move up in the first round of the draft. That effort may have involved players such as Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, but the market was steep and teams wanted major returns for premium assets.
Dubas also tried to land Jason Robertson before Robertson signed a one-year extension to remain with the Dallas Stars. In the end, Dubas decided against “sell the farm,” which says plenty about where the Penguins see themselves right now.
There is still some cautious optimism around the roster, and Dubas may simply be setting up for next summer instead. Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote:
“Next summer, the Penguins could have in excess of $70 million in cap space. The market will be much better.
They’ll have a better feel for which of their aging players can still be helpful down the road. They’ll have a feel for just how good [Sergei] Murashov is.
They’ll have a feel for which of their young players and prospects are ready for the NHL.”
That patience comes with a big-picture reality attached. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are all getting older, and Pittsburgh has not won a playoff series since 2018. The Penguins are still trying to find the line between staying competitive and starting the retool.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Coach Just Sent A Clear Message About Columbus Expectations
NHL coaching rankings can be a funny exercise, but they do reveal how a team like Columbus is viewed against the rest of the league. This latest list, which slots coaches from 15th through 11th based on accomplishment, experience, and reputation, puts a spotlight on a familiar mix of veterans and newer names, including Peter Laviolette, Rick Bowness, Dan Muse, and Lindy Ruff.
For the Blue Jackets, the broader takeaway is less about where one coach lands and more about the standard being used to judge him. The rankings blend short-term results with longer-term expectations, which is exactly the kind of lens Columbus has to live with as it tries to climb in a league where experience still carries real weight and every coaching decision gets measured against what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Havent Fully Escaped The Zach Werenski Tension Yet
The Zach Werenski conversation around Columbus has cooled for the moment, but it has not disappeared. Aaron Portzline reported that the defenseman has not directly asked for a trade, even as he has made clear he wants to see the Blue Jackets improve and get back into the playoff race. For now, that has taken some of the heat out of the situation, and GM Don Waddell has pushed back on the trade chatter that briefly threatened to turn into something bigger.
Still, this feels more like a pause than a resolution. Werenskis name figures to come back into the discussion if the Blue Jackets stumble or if an extension is not in place by next July, and that leaves the franchise with a familiar pressure point: prove the roster can win soon enough to keep one of its most important players from wondering what comes next. [Read more 🡒]