Maple Leafs had permission to hire Bruce Cassidy, but went with Jim Hiller instead

The Toronto Maple Leafs made their decision for their bench, hiring Jim Hiller to be the 41st head coach in franchise history. But, they could have had one of the most prized free agent coaches instead.

It has been a saga that has lasted months now, but after firing Bruce Cassidy as their head coach with just a few games left in the season and replacing him with John Tortorella, the Vegas Golden Knights refused to give permission to other teams to interview Cassidy for their own head coaching position. Since Cassidy had one year left on his contract, other teams still need to go through Vegas and Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said that the team was too focused on the playoffs to hand out permission to speak to someone that doesn't even work for them anymore.

Of course, that is a lie and the real reason was because the division rival Edmonton Oilers were hot in pursuit of Cassidy, who would be a very good coach for that team. But after losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina Hurricanes, McCrimmon made sure that the hockey world knew that he was willing to play ball, just a little bit.

“We had a situation where we did grant Bruce permission to speak to another team,” Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said Wednesday. “That didn’t come to fruition, but we’ll deal with that on a case-by-case basis.”

Maple Leafs got permission to interview Bruce Cassidy for head coach position

Well, isn't that so nice. And as reported by Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos on Wednesday, that team was the Maple Leafs.

So, the Leafs did have the option to hire Cassidy. It has not been reported whether or not they had a lengthy interview with the Stanley Cup-winning head coach or that he was a finalist, but they could have hired him if they wanted to.

Instead, they chose Hiller. And it was probably for the best.

“We took our time. We cast a very wide net. We ended up spending time with over 25 coaches, when it was all said and done,” Chayka said after hiring Hiller. “When we got through that process, it just created a lot of conviction that he was the right person at the right time with the right group, hopefully.”

Cassidy is the type of coach a struggling playoff team hires to make the final leap into actually winning something. He isn't the perfect coach if you want players to enjoy playing hockey and stick around for a while -- so almost exactly what the Leafs do not need right now. Add in the fact that Hiller has an existing relationship with Toronto's stars, likes numbers, and seems like a guy who is easy to get along with; and that is why Chayka decided to give him the job instead of even remotely pursuing Cassidy in a serious manner.

They had the option and they went with the right fit rather than the resume.

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