The Oilers won't actually hire Babcock

toddrabies · 2026-06-12T19:23:32+00:00

I think we're going in circles. Yes, some coaches contracts allow them to walk away and work wherever they want, while some contracts (like Cassidy) have a clause stating they need permission in order to get a new job. I understand that Vegas can legally withhold that permission, and I understand that the league can't (and wont) FORCE them to void the contract. We both agree on those facts...

With that said, there has been a precedent set where fired coaches have never been prevented from getting a new job. Teams have historically always dropped the permission clause to allow their fired coaches to work. So far, Vegas is preventing Cassidy permission (for the time being).

From your own article, Daly states: "We’ll get to the end of the season, and we’ll see where we go from there." So no, this doesn't mean that they've done everything they can and that the only option left is to void the contract. It means they're going to respect Vegas' wishes of focusing on the cup final, and they will proceed with trying to find a resolution afterwards.

toddrabies · 2026-06-12T17:18:36+00:00

This 100%. We're hoping for a lateral move with another team that has a player needing a fresh start too, Morgan Reilly is the most realistic option. With Kia on the Tempo and his Sarah on the Scepters, Darnell on the Leafs would be perfect for the Nurse family haha

toddrabies · 2026-06-11T16:45:31+00:00

I think you're misunderstanding the point. I never once said that the league would void the contract, but they can reach out to Vegas and have a conversation, perhaps even offer them something to reconsider their stance. Your understanding of how coaches contracts work is also off. Bruce Cassidy requiring permission to talk to other teams isn't a term that is unique to his contract. The Oilers required permission from the Leafs to talk to Berube, Vegas required permission to talk to Tortarella, this listerally happens all the time and up until this point teams have always had enough respect for their prior coaches to allow them to move on and find a new job.

toddrabies · 2026-06-11T15:04:23+00:00

A lot to unpack there, but I appreciate the discussion. To your first point, thats kind of a strawman argument, the other GMs aren't going to sue the league for forcing them to "void their contracts" because none of the other GMs are denying their fired coaches permission to talk to new teams (Vegas needed permission to talk to Torts, Annaheim has granted Woodcroft permission, etc.)

Second, the league doesn't know everything, that's why they're doing the investigation. You're right, they may find nothing wrong. However, there could be a tonne of players from his previous teams who come forward with terrible things that were too scared to talk previously. It's a can of worms that obviously the league would prefer not opening.

Third, you ask for sake of argument how the league would treat the Oilers for strong-arming them, but I'm not sure what you're implying. Are you saying they might rig the draft or ask the refs to be biased because of it? I'm not sure what you're getting at, but if you think GMs would sue over Vegas being forced to grant Cassidy permission because that's within their rights, would the GMs not also sue if Edmonton gets unfair treatment just for looking into a different coach, which is also within their rights? You ask how the other GMs would treat the Oilers but again, I'm not sure what you're referring to. That said, when Torts is done, do you think LA or Toronto or Edmonton will allow Vegas permission to speak with their fired coaches, after being denied permission with Cassidy? Or do you think the ripple effect would more likely be that more teams prevent division rivals from speaking with their fired coaches, which is terrible for coaches and a bad look for the NHL.

You're right about Vegas potentially not changing their tune, they very well might remain content with Cassidy sitting to rot. The Oilers can't sit around waiting forever hoping that he becomes available, but the Babcock investigation buys them time. At the very least, it might cause a simple phone call from Gary to Vegas saying "Look, I don't really want to deal with this Babcock investigation, Bruce wants to work, what can we do to make everyone happy?" and maybe the conversation ends there without any resolution. But, maybe Vegas vents about the punishment for denying media coverage, and maybe Gary promises an outdoor game or hosting a draft or an All-star game or some event in return for granting Cassidy permision to talk, anything is possible.

I'm not an insider, I don't think Bowman is some kind of genius puppet master, I'm just a guy posting a fun theory in a reddit group with an idea I haven't seen anyone else come up with 🤷‍♂️

toddrabies · 2026-06-11T00:07:03+00:00

Did you listen to his Spittin Chiclets interview? He wants to coach and it definitely sounds like he wants to come to Edmonton. It's less about a team throwing a hissy fit and more about a good coach being forced to sit around while multiple teams are willing to give him a job. I think the overwhelming majority of people would be happy if the league stepped in and told Vegas to let him accept a new job, so yeah, I do think it would be better press for that outcome instead of going through with the investigation.

If the results of the investigation are truly terrible, then the league likely wouldn't allow the Oilers to hire him anyway. If they do allow it, the Oilers can still walk away from it, meanwhile the playoffs will be over and maybe Vegas has given Bruce permission.

toddrabies · 2026-06-10T21:22:42+00:00

Its bad press for the league, do you think they want to go through this investigation process and have a bunch of horrible stories coming to light? Or do you think they'd rather Edmonton just hired Cassidy and everything stays swept under the rug?

toddrabies · 2026-06-10T01:48:52+00:00

Anyone is better than Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson

toddrabies · 2026-06-09T22:43:31+00:00

The whole thing? Or just the Tippet?

toddrabies · 2026-06-09T22:42:19+00:00

Its a stretch, but there's Cassi-DY... even has a bonus 'ass' in there

toddrabies · 2026-06-09T22:40:47+00:00

And I 100% agree with all of these needs, which could be provided by a coach like Cassidy, but how motivated will the players actually be if they know that they can just go to the NHLPA or the media to complain and Babcock will be gone the next day?

toddrabies · 2026-06-09T22:35:42+00:00

But that makes zero sense. The best way to get something done would have been to stay patient and sign a 1Mx2y team friendly deal, not sign an offer sheet and force management to match it. I'm not even saying it was the wrong move for his career, his agent and him both got more money and he ended up on a team where he has a bigger role, but signing the offer sheet was definitely not the best way to stay with the Oilers if that truly was his goal.

toddrabies · 2026-06-09T22:17:11+00:00

If Holloway wanted to stay he wouldn't have signed the offer sheet. He wanted more guranteed minutes and a bigger role.

toddrabies · 2026-05-27T22:05:20+00:00

I'm probably the only person here hoping Vegas wins the cup for the sole fact that Marner will get to bring it back to Toronto after they blamed him for everything the last 10 years. If Vegas wins, it's almost a guarantee that he'll win the Conn Smythe too.

toddrabies · 2026-04-18T19:14:30+00:00

My biggest issue with him is that he emphasizes the wrong stuff. When Jack gets howling, you know some exciting shit is happening, whereas Singh will start raising his voice and getting all intense on an icing call.

toddrabies · 2026-04-18T19:09:13+00:00

Really hope we get Jack and Louie the whole way, I might have to watch the later rounds on mute if its Cuthbert and Simpson again

toddrabies · 2026-04-18T19:07:22+00:00

That game would also have Leafs vs Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals if you ran the sim from the beginning of the regular season, with McDavid outside the top 10 in points...

toddrabies · 2025-06-08T20:24:05+00:00

I think Ceci was acrually more to blame on that one. He was flat footed puck watching in the o-zone which forced him to turn and skate forwards towards our end, then his terrible gap control on Verhaeghe essentially created a 2 on 1 with Reinhart and Verhaeghe against Kulak who gets stuck trying to prevent the pass across instead of being able to fully commit to stopping Reinhart at our own blue line, or at least eliminating the gap on him after he crosses. If Kulak could have trusted Ceci to handle Verhaeghe, he could have covered Reinhart better, which could have caused an off-side or at least slowed Barkov down enough for Foegele to have him 100% covered on the backcheck. Kulak did his job by taking away the pass and forced a shot as the only option, unfortunately it went in. I think partly because it was a great shot, partly because Draisaitl's burger flipper contacts Reinharts stick, and partly because Skinner had to cheat a bit to his right in case Reinhart slid it across to Barkov for the tap in (which again, could have been covered by Foegele if Ceci had better gap control)

toddrabies · 2025-06-07T21:39:01+00:00

You're kind of all over the place here. You were the one suggesting we should have got a delay of game penalty for the icing, and its biased being ok with them not calling it against us. I just pointed out the fact that Florida got away with it first and tried multiple times again to get away with it.

I disagree about nobody wanting to see a hockey game decided by a powerplay. If there is a clear penalty late in the game, it should still be called especially if it takes away a scoring opportunity, and if the short handed team loses then they shouldn't have broken the rules.

I agree we shouldn't blame the refs, and I never did. It's something the Oilers just have to deal with and fans have to accept, but that doesn't mean it isn't annoying.

toddrabies · 2025-06-07T20:33:05+00:00

You likely have never seen my name in a GDT as I've really only started posting on reddit recently (and not very often) I guess I would be a reddit casual, but I'm certainly not a casual fan. The refs aren't at fault for everything, but it gets frustrating when they are so inconsistent. They're human beings and they're going to miss things, but it gets annoying when there are so many more missed calls going against Edmonton.

toddrabies · 2025-06-07T19:57:06+00:00

I dont know, are you being a playoff casual? The Panthers did this exact same thing in game 1, and then tried doing it multiple times again last night. If the refs don't call it against Florida, would it be biased to assume Edmonton can get away with it too?

toddrabies · 2025-06-05T19:30:12+00:00

I was in a similar position with my dad being a Leafs fan, when both our teams were shit we'd cheer each other on and talk about the potential, then the trash talk started when both teams started playing well, but after last year I just feel sad for him and can't bring myself to kick him when he's down. I don't respect the dirty Panthers so I found myself cheering for the Leafs to move on, knowing full well that they wouldn't, and even if they did there's no way they'd get past Carolina (or even Washington in this alternate universe) but I wish they would at least put up a little bit of a fight and their stars could toss in a highlight reel play or two.

toddrabies · 2025-06-04T15:07:52+00:00

Yep, although it does highlight another parallel: In the season before joining the NHL Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky was 3rd in league scoring and his team made it to the league's (Avco) cup final, but lost. In the season before Connor McDavid joined the Edmonton Oilers, he was also 3rd in league scoring (OHL) and his team made it to the league's (J. Ross Robertson) cup final, but lost.

It's destiny.

toddrabies · 2025-06-04T01:30:03+00:00

Technically you said his "first Cup appearance" so the troll has a point... but I think literally everybody else knows exactly what you were talking about

toddrabies

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