Bruce Cassidy’s credentials speak for themselves.
In his five-and-a-half seasons at the helm of the franchise, the bench boss guided Boston to a 245-108-46 record — good for a .672 win percentage.
He took home the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2019-20 after leading Boston to a Presidents' Trophy. Along with guiding Boston to just one win short of a Stanley Cup title, the Bruins punched a ticket to the postseason in each of Cassidy’s six years. In all but two of those playoff campaigns, Boston advanced beyond the first round.
So why then, given Cassidy’s sterling track record, did it not come as much of a surprise that the Bruins canned Cassidy on Monday night?
Well, because Cam Neely and the Bruins’ front office telegraphed such a scenario almost three weeks ago — with the franchise president propping up Boston’s coach as the fall guy for the club’s first-round exit against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I think we have to look at making some changes as far as how we play and the way we do some of the things,” Neely said last month during his end-of-season presser. “I think Bruce is a fantastic coach. I mean, he's brought a lot of success to this organization. I like him as a coach. So, we'll see where it goes.
“But I do think we need to make some changes. And I think Bruce, a couple of days ago, he alluded to that. So, we'll see where that goes with that.”
Now, let’s get the obvious musings out of the way first.
Yes, Cassidy, like just about every coach, had his flaws. You could take him to task for his stubbornness with tweaking his lineup, especially in previous years.
The short leash he offered to Boston’s youngsters up in the NHL ranks was a criticism that Neely touched on (even though some of those gripes should be more of a statement on the state of Boston's prospect pool, rather than the coach trying to draw talent from that next generation.)
And while Cassidy was routinely a favorite of this media corps given his candid comments and willingness to delve into just about every avenue related to hockey, his propensity for also taking players to task through post-game pressers perhaps ruffled some feathers in the room.
And yet, even with these documented shortcomings, to lump the blame on Cassidy and designate him as the scapegoat in a season where he managed to make the most out of a deeply flawed roster — concocted by a general manager and a front-office staff that’s still at the controls of a franchise-augmenting offseason — is a dreadful, dreadful look.
As we noted in our post-presser column following Neely’s head-scratching comments, this front-office grouping should have spent these first few weeks of the offseason looking at themselves in the mirror before deciding to prop up Cassidy as the first in line for the firing squad.
You can point to that decisive Game 7 all you want in terms of Boston’s frustrating lack of finishing and an unwillingness to drive inside against Antti Raanta and the Hurricanes.
But the fact that Cassidy even managed to get this roster, as constructed, to a Game 7 against a superior Carolina team should be another feat on his resume, in and of itself.
These players don’t get inside the dots enough? Yep.
But perhaps we should be looking at the pieces of this fragmented roster that Cassidy had to work with at the start of this season?
You know - a roster that, with the organization WELL AWARE of Bergeron’s pending future, opted to roll with …
- No set solution at the second-line center spot after David Krejci went back to Czechia, with Charlie Coyle — fresh off of knee surgery — standing as the first man up to step into those shoes.
- A D corps that, after re-signing Mike Reilly to a three-year, $9 million contract extension, had a rather redundant grouping on the left side, eventually prompting Sweeney to go out and relinquish future draft capital to bring in Hampus Lindholm — and potentially making Reilly expendable this summer.
- A hodgepodge bottom-six grouping that included Tomas Nosek ($1.75 million AAV), who didn’t light the lamp after Jan. 2, and Nick Foligno ($3.8 million AAV), who buried just two goals in 64 games.
Not exactly the reinforcements that the Bruins were looking for, especially in an offseason in which Boston approached the start of free agency with over $25 million in cap space.
And yet, despite relying on a roster that was once again anchored by star talent and hampered by a subpar supporting cast, Cassidy and Boston’s top players still managed to accrue 107 points in the standings — holding their own in what might be the most top-heavy season in recent memory when it came to powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.
As Bill Parcells once said, “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” Cassidy may not wield as much power as established coaches in the NFL.
But to harp on Cassidy’s system when he had little support or adequate talent at his disposal to make the most of this season sure seems extremely short-sighted on the part of Bruins management.
Of course, when that column was penned, it was to be expected that the Bruins were set to move ahead with Cassidy on extremely thin ice — with the B’s ready and willing to cut ties with their coach at the first sight of trouble in October or November.
It was a scenario that was easy to predict. Not just because of the litany of franchise cogs expected to be on the shelf for the first few months of the 2022-23 season, but because the B’s already seemed destined to take a step back this year – a painful reality brought about by years of failed chances to complement this core with supporting talent, be it in free agency or through the draft.
But rather than wait, Sweeney and Neely uprooted their coach in short order — with Sweeney noting that the franchise was in need of a new direction.
“His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally,” Sweeney said in Boston’s press release announcing Cassidy’s firing. “After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice.”
While there’s oftentimes merit in ripping off the band-aid in order to get a painful deed over with, the Bruins’ line of thinking and the multiple paths they can take doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Instead, Monday’s firing might just ensure that Bruins fans feel the sting of this move for a long, long time.
Because let’s face it — what scenario would actually account for the Bruins’ rationale to fire a coach like Cassidy?
The most obvious one, of course, is the franchise opting to completely rebuild — with the offseason dedicated to clearing cap, building around this next core of talent in Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman and potentially David Pastrnak (if he wants to stick around beyond 2022) and dismantling some of this supporting cast in hopes of better fortunes in the 2023 draft and beyond.
Cassidy is a great coach, but he’s definitely a “win-now” coach who does best when holding a veteran room accountable.
If the Bruins were to blow things up or at least view 2022-23 as a “bridge” year given their injuries, uncertainty with Patrice Bergeron’s future and the need to incorporate more young talent — then sure, perhaps opting for a new voice like Jay Leach, Ryan Mougenel or even a collegiate coach like Nate Leaman would make some sense.
But that’s far from a guarantee.
Perhaps Sweeney and Neely are instead on the prowl for just another “new voice” that will be handed the same ol’ flawed, aging roster that Cassidy managed to spin gold with for years now.
(Rick Bowness and Rick Tocchet constitute new voices, right?)
Perhaps canning Cassidy was a move needed to appease some of the B’s regulars that were perhaps turned off by their coach’s public criticisms. Maybe Cassidy’s exit influences Bergeron’s decision for next season? Maybe David Krejci wants to come back now? Will Jake DeBrusk rescind his trade request?
That’s all well and good. Everyone loves it when the “band gets back together”. But canning your head coach in order to try and goad back a 37- and 36-year-old pivot to join a banged-up roster in 2022-23 — rather than looking ahead to the future — is also … a damning choice.
Perhaps Sweeney will formally chart the course for this franchise and explain the reasoning behind Cassidy’s exit during his 8 a.m. press conference on Tuesday at Warrior Ice Arena.
Or maybe, much like how the collective fandom feels tonight, the Bruins faithful will be stuck in this unenviable state of limbo for the foreseeable future — with the searing sting of that ripped bandage still everpresent.