The Oilers are heading into their most important summer in ages, and while it was always going to be weird and messy, I’m not sure anyone expected it to start with a leak that turned into a fork in the road.

After getting bounced by the Anaheim Ducks in six games after a season of ups and downs, watching Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid speak incredibly honestly about the team taking a step backward, and staring down a summer to-do list that should make everyone who cares about this team nervous, the Oilers needed to come out of the gates looking calm, organized, and with a clear plan in place. Instead, the first big story we got is a coaching leak involving Kris Knoblauch and Bruce Cassidy. That is probably not the ideal place to start.

And before I get started, I don’t necessarily think the Oilers did anything wrong, even if the execution was poor. If they truly believe Bruce Cassidy is a better coaching option for this team going forward, then of course, they needed to know whether a conversation was even possible before making a final decision on Kris Knoblauch. That’s not some scandalous tactic or anything like that. They tried doing their due diligence ahead of a big decision for the org. It makes sense to find out whether or not Cassidy was even interested in the gig. Then, if everything lines up, make the change and explain the decision afterward.

The problem is that their plan got leaked, and nothing stayed quiet. Once Frank Seravalli broke the news on Twitter, the Oilers lost control of their own timeline. What may have started as a sneaky temperature check on Cassidy turned into a public debate on the team’s handling of the situation, Cassidy’s availability, Vegas’ slow playing the conversation despite firing the guy, and........

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