NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 20, 2026
The latest on the Avalanche and Golden Knights before Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, reaction to the Canucks firing head coach Adam Foote, the Devils to retain coach Sheldon Keefe, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights begins on Wednesday, May 20, at 8 pm ET in Denver.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (NHL Images)
The Avalanche enter this series with superstar defenseman Cale Makar’s status for Game 1 uncertain. He missed his third consecutive practice on Tuesday, sparking speculation that he’s dealing with an injury. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said he’s not concerned yet about Makar’s status for the series-opening contest.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Makar’s absence, even for one game, would be a challenging adjustment for the Avalanche. Even if he plays, his performance could be hampered by this possible injury.
TSN: The NHL Coaches’ Association is closely monitoring the situation involving former Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy.
The Golden Knights fired Cassidy late in the regular season, replacing him with John Tortorella on an interim basis. The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings recently asked the Golden Knights for permission to speak with Cassidy, but they’ve yet to do so.
Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon confirmed that teams have asked for permission to speak with Cassidy.
“We’ve been consistent that our focus currently is on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the teams have respected that,” McCrimmon said. “I’ve spoken with Bruce. He understands it, as well.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Cassidy remains under contract with the Golden Knights, who are within their rights to grant or deny permission to clubs that are interested in hiring him.
However, McCrimmon’s excuse doesn’t hold water. The Golden Knights have had almost a week off between playoff series, giving him plenty of time to consider whether he’ll grant permission to those clubs to speak with Cassidy.
SPORTSNET: The Golden Knights lost their appeal for breaking the league’s media access rules following Game 6 of their second-round series with the Anaheim Ducks. Head coach John Tortorella was fined $100,000, and the Golden Knights will lose their second-round draft pick in this year’s draft.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The league has had enough of Tortorella’s battles with the media and with the Golden Knights for ignoring previous warnings about violating the media access rules.
These shenanigans have robbed the Golden Knights of positive coverage for their upcoming series with the Avalanche.
THE SCORE: The Vancouver Canucks fired head coach Adam Foote on Tuesday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Foote was promoted from assistant coach to bench boss last year when Rick Tocchet departed for the Philadelphia Flyers. He faced huge obstacles this season that would’ve challenged even the most experienced head coach.
Manny Malholtra could be the favorite to take over from Foote. He’s currently the head coach of their farm team in Abbotsford. He also has NHL experience as an assistant coach with the Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
TSN: Former Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t expected to pursue a new coaching job for the time being. He was recently fired after the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Knoblauch can afford to take his time and consider his future. He’s under contract with the Oilers for the next three seasons.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Sheldon Keefe will return as the Devils’ head coach, but he will need a couple of new assistants. Goaltending coach Dave Rogalski was relieved of his duties, while Sergei Brylin will be taking on a new role within the organization.
BUFFALO HOCKEY BEAT: Sabres forward Jiri Kulich will resume his playing career next season after undergoing a procedure two months ago to remove a blood clot. The 22-year-old missed all but 12 games this season because of the clot.
If I’m a Vegas fan I appreciate their approach to focusing only on the playoffs. I don’t think it’s an “excuse” but keeping their eyes on the prize. The man’s being paid. Strategically it means not giving divisional opponents extra time with the new coach to prep for the draft and free agency. I like seeing torts fined though. And the appeal failing should hopefully quiet down the vegas favoritism nonsense.
How is this a distraction for Vegas? This is punitive. This is Vegas not wanting a really good coach to go to a rival. Guys that are NHL level coaches don’t want to sit on the sidelines even if they are getting paid. They want to coach.
So, add another team soon to ask permission to speak with Cassidy???
Boy, with all that competition for his services, this guy could parlay that into a retirement contract!
Despite it being Vegas’ contractual right to decline access to Cassidy, it is totally bushleague.
There is an unwritten rule across all sports coaching that you do not deny a coach to interview for a promotion elsewhere.
While Cassidy wouldn’t technically be a promotion by title, it is a promotion from “not working” to “working”.
Bettman should really institute a formal policy around this. And that maybe even includes a stipulation that there can be no coaching interviews/hires/firings/changes of any kind during the NHL playoffs. That might be tough on teams that want to plan and move forward, but it also eliminates the background noise and keeps focus on the ice during the playoffs.
I like your suggestion. It keeps teams from being vilified for focusing on winning a championship. Problem would be if someone needed fired for cause. One way to solve it would be to not guarantee coaches contracts so when you are fired you are fired. I’m sure the coaches association would love that
>>>>There is an unwritten rule across all sports coaching that you do not deny a coach to interview for a promotion elsewhere.
I hate unwritten rules. If it’s a rule, write it down. Otherwise it’s not really a rule, is it?
And I’m having a hard time garnering sympathy for a guy making a ton of money for NOT working.
Now, you can say it’s Bush League (and I tend to agree), but what seems to be forgotten is that Cassidy also SIGNED the contract with Vegas. Did he not know what he was signing? Surely we all aren’t suggesting that. So he had to know this was a likely result. Heck, every NHL coach has to know this is a potential result.
Interesting that Vegas would immediately try to appeal the ruling but when the Senators lost their 1st round pick, Andlauer chose not to appeal, saying simply that any such action “would be futile” as the previous management was obviously negligent (just as the Vegas management was obviously in violation of league rules on media access). He did, however, continue to agitate through the system for a “reconsideration.” He eventually got that when the league gave them the 32nd pick in this year’s draft – the penalty ultimately being a drop of about 10-12 picks from where they would have been selecting following the conclusion of the season. They were also fined a cool $1 mil!
Lyle, any predictions for this round?
Feel sorry for Jiri I’ve had a blood clot in my leg for over six months funny thing is I’m active all the time still play an occasional game in my 50’s but I sit a lot at my desk at work. On another topic I always thought one of these days Torts is going to go too far. I’ve heard other players talk about Torts saying he’s players coach, although sometimes during interviews he can get downright outrageous, apparently the players he coaches love the guy. He reminds me of me a lot of Cherry.
Very few people will care but I need a little ray of hope. The baby pens. Murashov 948 save percentage so far in the Calder. Zannon. Signed outta junior a couple weeks ago. Three games as a professional. One goal each game. Brunicke. Plus 5 so far.
I’ll take it.