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Mike Babcock has received permission to talk to other NHL teams. He is obviously the marquee coach on the market and a lot of what happens on the coaching market will be in reaction to where Babcock goes.
I truly believe that if Mike Babcock had a time machine to reverse Datsyuk and Zetterberg's aging process by five years he wouldn't be going anywhere. Babcock is a smart guy and sees the writing on the wall. Legit perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup all have star power and that star power is not in their mid thirties. Stanley Cup contenders also have a bonafide number one defenseman which the Red Wings aren't even close to having. This does not mean that Detroit won't be a good team moving forward (very likely they will be) it just means that Mike Babcock isn't settling for good.
Being competitive at the highest level will be Babcock's driving force for leaving Detroit. it isn't front office control as these quotes from Ansar Khan of Michigan Live indicate
"I am part of making decisions here, but I have no skill-set to be the general manager," Babcock said. "Anybody who thinks I want to go somewhere to be a general manager, they're talking to the wrong guy."I'm a coach, I love to coach. I love the players, I love the competition, I like being close to the ice. I love what I do; I think I'm good at it. I have no interest in sitting where Kenny sits at all.
"So do I want to have input? Yes. Do I have input here? Lots."
What situations make sense? Some people have said Toronto but I don't think they are in a great situation roster wise to pull it off. They will start to improve, but have too much heavy lifting to do right now.
Philadelphia? Ha, with that defense corp.?
Pittsburgh? Unless Mike Babcock has a magic elixir to remove talented players from injured reserve I don't see how he would have done any better with Pittsburgh's roster than Mike Johnston did last year.
To me there are two clear obvious candidates. They are Buffalo and Edmonton. Both organizations already have the hardest pieces to acquire, franchise centermen. Edmonton will have Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for years to come. The Buffalo Sabres have Jack Eichel and the promising Samson Reinhart.
Buffalo has what seems like a million draft picks in the next two years as well as a league high 39.8M in cap space for 2015-16. The Sabres are primed for a very fast turnaround when you look at some of the younger pieces already in place, the cap space, and the soon to be aggressive, yet smart, general manager. Buffalo has one of the most appealing situations in the entire NHL.
And that whole money thing I mentioned earlier where Mike Babcock is going to be paid no matter what? Well that is still true, but nobody will pay him more than Terry Pegula, so there's that.
The Buffalo Sabres and Mike Babcock seem like the perfect fit.
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Ray Shero was hired as New Jersey's General Manager earlier in the week and naturally there has been speculation about Dan Bylsma joining forces again with his former boss. The speculation makes sense because Shero was incredibly loyal to Bylsma during their tenures in Pittsburgh.
However, with so many good coaching opportunities out there right now why would Dan Bylsma sign up to coach the Devils? The Devils aren't close to being competitive and have what I would consider the worst situation in the NHL.
I would think this would be a "Thanks, but no thanks" decision for Dan Bylsma, but we'll see. Loyalty in the NHL has led to many poor decisions in the past.
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Brand new Hockey Hurts podcast is up. Topics include the entertainment value of the NHL playoffs, Mike Babcock, and the Ray Shero hire. You can find the podcast here
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Jaromir Jagr gif, just because
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