OT- Mike Babcock destination

Submitted by JonnyHintz on
There have been rumors floating around all season about Mike Babcock and his potential departure from Detroit. He has been touted as the savior of Toronto and, more recently, Edmonton. He has been talked about as potentially coaching Pittsburgh and rejoining Crosby after their gold medal runs. Will he remain in Detoit? Head north? Will he be a Penguin? Is it going to be about the money or the best situation? He is undeniably a top 5 coach in the NHL and arguably the very best. No doubt he could coach just about anywhere. Realistically, what do you expect him to do?

Sac Fly

April 10th, 2015 at 2:33 PM ^

You're mistaken.

Terry Pegula came in as the owner right at the end of the glory years. It's only been 4 years.

He had to dig out of the hole they were already in. When he took over we had a long time coach/GM duo, and a roster full of big contracts and players getting to the end of their careers.

Pegula traded every asset and contract they had and stocked picks. They have the #1 prospect system in the league.

Even without McDavid, this is still the kind of rebuild that sets up a franchise to compete for the next 10 years.

lhglrkwg

April 10th, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^

The Sabres are at the bottom of their rebuild. They've got a pretty solid farm system right now and still a number of draft picks for the next few seasons. The Dave Brandon / Jed York comparison is competely out of left field...you didn't say how they went together

They've been building from the ground up and should be on the upswing again soon

Frequency

April 10th, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^

Maybe the comparison was bad... I'm not a sabers fan and don't know all the details, but my co-worker is and we'be been talking about this a bit. he has a slightly different outlook about the team and the owner, though he's a Mets fan too so maybe he just has a jaded outlook about his sports team.

lhglrkwg

April 10th, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^

The Sabres were destined to be a bottom 5 team this year and this year has the McDavid-EIchel sweepstakes. Why pull for the Sabres to get 20th and extend their awfulness vs. hoping they finish last as an investment for future seasons? It makes sense.

mgobleu

April 10th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^

Their farm system is really getting back into gear again and they do look like they're heading for an upswing. Plus he's going to get a shiny new office in 2 years; unless the arena gets pushed back, I'd be surprised if he doesn't spend at least a year or two there after the move.

MichiganHSSP14

April 10th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^

Listening to the Canadian broadcast of last nights game, they brought this up during intermission. Their thoughts were that he will stay in Detroit, and that the money won't matter. I tend to agree with their main point being that he will get paid by Detroit, and why would he leave somewhere that has made the playoffs for 24 straight years for a potential rebuild. Just found it interesting that even some Canadian broadcasters feel he won't be leaving

truferblue22

April 10th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^

Detroit is most likely but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. I just hope it's Edmonton because him at Toronto, or worse, with Pittsburgh, would probably kill me. I think Blashill is ready to be an NHL coach and if we lose Babs I would love to see him behind the bench for us

Seth

April 10th, 2015 at 1:58 PM ^

90% Stays with the team he shaped into a consistently competitive franchise again.

9% Goes to another pro team

1% Comes to Michigan

...is what I said last October about Harbaugh.

#ITSHAPPENING

Gobgoblue

April 10th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^

The Red Wings job is like, I don't know, equivalent to coaching the Yankees. It is a flagship franchise, and not known as Hockey town for nothing.

The Uke

April 12th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^

I think he stays in Detroit but could go to Toronto for big bucks since it is the center (I should say centre) of the hockey universe. Don't think so, just ask anyone who lives within 100 miles of that city!