This week Mike Babcock left Detroit to sign an 8-year, $50 million dollar deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was headline news, across the board, including on social media forums.
Courtesy: sports.yahoo.com
How will the Red Wings fare without Babcock? No worries: the Wings always have a backup plan and they won’t miss a beat. A young nucleus of Tatar, Nyquist, and DeKeyser are about ready to take over for The Old War Horses, Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
What about the Leafs? Well, the bottom line is always the same: you need good players for a coach to be successful. The Leafs have a few of the pieces, but they lack leadership. That’s especially important in Toronto, a “We Want it Now!” market. The Babcock hire will really help. He’ll bring stability to the franchise.
But what do you do next? You have to assume that Lupul and Phaneuf are gone. I think Kessel, Bozak, and van Riemsdyk can be kept. Whom do you choose as Captain? In my opinion, nobody. Roll instead with a bunch of assistants to keep the pressure off. I would assume that Shanahan isn’t going to go after new high-priced talent while he’s overhauling the team.
Courtesy: www.cagle.com
On the back end, the Leafs have a couple of pieces in place with Reilly and Gardiner. Reilly could be a Top 10 defensemen. And Gardiner has the skating ability and offensive prowess to make him a top power-play producer.
In goal, they have two very solid keepers in Bernier and Reimer, each of whom could start for a number of teams. But the Leafs need help up front because the team has only one strong line. Kadri might never be more than an average second-liner, so this is an area of great need.
Another major issue is that the Leafs don’t have a lot coming through the pipeline. Babcock could change that. Detroit has been brilliant at drafting talent and, then, turning that talent into top-line players. While the scouts and Holland have a lot to do with that outcome, give Babcock credit, too. He got the most out of his players in Motown and he’ll need to do the same in Toronto.
Courtesy: USAToday
The Leafs are obviously a few years away from contending. Hiring Babcock is a move in the right direction—even though the $$$ makes me shake my head. The Leafs have the cash, though, and the Babcock hire doesn’t count against the cap.
Babcock is the NHL’s best head coach. The Leafs made the right choice.
