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Craig Berube Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are set to interview Craig Berube to become the team’s new head coach after he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed on social media Monday morning that he heard that the Oilers were interested in Berube, whom a team insider recently linked to the job. Now, it appears that’s exactly what’s happening, with a formal interview being scheduled soon with Berube after the Maple Leafs granted the Oilers permission to speak with their former head coach.

Oilers Talking to Craig Berube

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug wrote on X that the Oilers have spoken to Berube already about the team’s vacant head coaching job. Evidently, they liked what they heard from him, and now a formal interview is set to take place.

In the same breath, Rishaug revealed that the Vegas Golden Knights are still blocking the Oilers from being granted permission to speak with their former head coach, Bruce Cassidy, who was fired by the team in March. Despite being fired by Vegas, Cassidy still has multiple years left on his contract, and up to this point, Vegas is not letting Edmonton get the chance to speak to him.

“Hearing a formal interview with Berube is expected after some initial conversation between he and Bowman. Permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy had still not been granted as of Sunday night,” Rishaug wrote on X.

Oilers Need to Get This Hire Right

It goes without saying that the Oilers need to get this hire right. After the team fired Kris Knoblauch after three seasons as the team’s head coach, they simply cannot afford to waste any more time of captain Connor McDavid’s prime. Now 29 years old, McDavid is heading into his 12th NHL season, and he still hasn’t won a Stanley Cup despite being the best player in hockey. With just two seasons left on his sweetheart, team-friendly contract in Edmonton, the team needs to do everything they can to put good players and the right coach around him and win a cup now. The Oilers are hoping that Berube could be the right man behind the bench to lead them to the promised land after he won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.

In Toronto, Berube had an up-and-down tenure. In his first season in Toronto, the Maple Leafs won the Atlantic Division and took the Florida Panthers to the brink of elimination in the second round before losing in seven games to Florida, who went on to win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year against the Oilers in the finals.

After a solid first year in Toronto, the team regressed badly under Berube’s watch this season and missed the playoffs entirely. When new GM John Chayka and senior advisor Mats Sundin took over management, their first big decision was to keep or fire Berube. They chose to fire him, but it appears that he may not be out of work for long, as he already has an interview lined up in Edmonton.