On developing young players
May 11, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy talks to his team from behind the bench against the Washington Capitals in the third period period at Capital One Arena. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)
It seems like the No. 1 reason that the Bruins decided to move on from Bruce Cassidy, at least if we’re to take Bruins general manager Don Sweeney at his word, is that the Bruins wanted a new coach who they believe can communicate to and develop young players at a more effective level.
The idea that Cassidy couldn’t and didn’t do that during his Boston run is something that he clearly didn’t agree with, and with some names to back up his point.
“When I came on board, we changed a lot of the players and we infused our team with a lot of young talent; Jake DeBrusk, Anders Bjork, Danton Heinen, Pasta was still young, Grzelcyk, Carlo, McAvoy,” Cassidy offered. “And I think a lot of those guys have gone and had real nice careers. Some of them have left here, obviously for different reasons, you’re trying to always improve your team. And then onto now more recently. Trent Frederic, we’ve tried to incorporate into the lineup on a regular basis. Jack [Studnicka]’s knocking on the door [but] unfortunately we had a few veteran guys in front of him, and we’ll see how that plays out down the road for the next coach and you know how much availability there is on the roster for him. But [Jakub] Zboril was turning the corner, Jeremy Lauzon did real good work for us [but] unfortunately we had to expose him [in the Seattle expansion draft] and that’s just part of the business, and you’re seeing [Jeremy] Swayman develop.
“I’m very proud of my record with young guys.”
Given the Bruins’ expectations over that window — Boston entered the year with Stanley Cup hopes from 2018 through Cassidy’s final season in town — that seems like a healthy number to the 57-year-old.
“I think what happens is when you’re a team that’s contending for a Stanley Cup, there’s just not as much room on the roster to put those guys in on a regular basis,” Sweeney offered. “We want guys to learn from their mistakes. It’s going to happen. No one’s perfect and we’re okay with that. But at the end of the day, when you’re vying for a championship, the closer you get to that, any player young or old has to make sure that their game’s buttoned up.
“That’s our job as a staff to make them better. Head coach and assistant coaches. Honestly I can’t say enough about [Jay Pandolfo], Joe Sacco, Kevin [Dean], now Chris Kelly. Like they poured their heart and soul into making these guys better and I hope at some point they appreciate that down the road that they cared about the player and cared about him as a person.
“And I think I fit into that category.”
But he was also aware of some the issues that came up during his tenure. Jake DeBrusk requested a trade. Anton Blidh made it known that he wasn’t happy sitting in the press box for weeks at a time. Peter Cehlarik blasted Cassidy on his way out of the NHL. Guys like Trent Frederic struggled to properly find their footing, and Jack Studnicka wanted more of an NHL look.
“Not every player is going to work out, not every player going to connect with you,” Cassidy said. “In my next challenge, I’ll make sure that I’m mindful of the messaging because I respect [Sweeney] when he talks to me about what you need to do better. He’s been in the game a long time, so that’s something I have to take with me to the next job, but still drive home the accountability because I don’t think you have much of a team if players aren’t held accountable to a standard.”