Morning Skate: Rudderless

If nothing else, at least the offseason hasn’t been boring, right?

It seems like there’s been a different news dump every few days.

Surgeries. Injuries. Rumors. And now a firing, soon to be followed by a coaching search.

We’ve already spent plenty of words on the firing of Bruce Cassidy, and surely there will be plenty more takes to come.

It was pretty clear from the end-of-season pressers that Cassidy, Don Sweeney, and Cam Neely weren’t on the same page, but it still seems a little excessive to part ways after such a good run.

Still, that’s what we have - Sweeney and Neely appear to have decided they want someone who will do things their way, whatever that way may be.

In The Athletic, Fluto Shinzawa noted that “Cassidy’s hard-line approach was not what players favored,” particularly when it came to younger players.

Plenty of us here have wondered at times if some of the younger players got a completely fair shake, but I’m struggling to think of a glaringly obvious case of “Cassidy Stunts Young Player’s Development.”

Maybe the DeBrusk situation? But even then, there was enough performance-related trouble to justify at least some of Cassidy’s (somewhat) harsh treatment.

There may have been times where we wondered why someone like Jack Studnicka, for example, wasn’t getting more of a shot, but it’s not like the Bruins are well stocked with young guns rearing to go, right?

Plus, if management wanted Cassidy to do more to develop younger players, why go out and sign a guy like Nick Foligno (not to pick on him), instead of saying “find a kid to play in that spot”?

I don’t know. I’m speaking questions into the void.

We’ll have plenty of time to discuss these takes, at least!

Today’s discussion topic

It’s been thrown around plenty in other threads, but who’s at the top of your list to replace Cassidy?