I'm not sold on Cassidy...
I think this is still 90% Julien's team. Systems wise, offensively and defensively they're the same team from goal line to goal line. The one tweak Cassidy made to the system was to stress more plays below the goal line while Julien liked more high plays and high rotations (like Ottawa is using). So what changes will Cassidy make this off-season when he has time to implement his systems? Will the changes be good or bad?
The other big difference between Julien and Cassidy is that Cassidy is much more willing to tweak the lineup in-game. Julien believed in giving players time to work through their struggles. I think that built loyalty with players but I also think it led to complacency. Cassidy is quick to make changes and while that kept everyone on their toes in the short term, will it wear thin quickly? I think fans much prefer Cassidy's approach but I'm not convinced it will get the most out of the players long term.
I also think Boucher is outcoaching Cassidy in this series. That's to be expected, Boucher has some experience in the post-season now, and he's clearly picked up Cassidy's preference for low plays, so he has their D jumping off net front coverage early to pick off passes down low. We are having trouble maintaining any type of sustained offensive pressure because of this and there doesn't seem to be an adjustment coming, other than line combination changes. I also think Boucher is winning the matchup battle and has done a good job of limiting Marchand's time and space.
Last but not least, Cassidy was NOT a kid friendly coach these last 20 games. Every kid on this team played less under BC than under CJ. Cassidy basically turned Spooer/Vatrano into 4th liners and promoted Moore and Nash to the 3rd line. He gave Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid more ice time... All that won him games so I'm not complaining, but I am concerned about how he'll manage the bench going forward, knowing that there is an influx of young talent on the way. If there are 4 or 5 rookies on this team next year, are they going to be given the ice time to develop, or will he keep pushing them down the lineup?
At the end of the day, I think I'd keep my options open this summer. See who's available and if Cassidy still looks like the best fit, offer him a 1 year deal. Then he can answer these questions and we'll know what we're buying at this time next year.