paulwoodsfan

Oates has already been rumoured to be joining Carlye's staff in Toronto.

Quite a few coaches have gone to assistant positions after being fired, Renney being one of them. I don't disagree that Bylsma could afford to wait for an opening he liked, tho. Or he might decide there is a good succession plan in a good organization in Detroit. It's all moot until/if he becomes available anyway.

If Bylsma ends up getting fired by Pittsburgh and it's too late for him to get a HC job somewhere, I could see him coming. Babcock coached him in Anaheim and he's obviously a pretty decent coach, despite the Pens' recent playoff failures.

Not to hijack yet another thread, but . . . Bernie Federko (cough) Adam Oates (cough). Now THAT was a terrible trade. Until Jarnkrok actually excels in the NHL for a decent length of time, it's absurd to suggest the Legwand deal was a terrible trade.

Any GM of a non-playoff team who trades his 2015 first-round pick should be fired on the spot. The top end of next year's draft is stacked. McDavid likely has a much higher upside than Nathan MacKinnon.

Euro_Twins, you are saying he may get more money elsewhere; so am I. I've also said he might take less money elsewhere if he likes other terms and conditions. You seem to be saying the same thing on that as well. We seem to be saying the same thing. If you feel you "proved me wrong about the money," that's fine. I'm not sure what you mean by that, much less what the proof is, but it's fine. I continue to believe what I have said from the beginning -- as long as he has not signed a new contract with Detroit, I believe this will become a distraction to the team because fans and media will be talking him up for other jobs around the league.

The difference is I have never prefaced any of my own speculation with "the fact is," which to me at least implies an element of objective truth. It's a trope that some people use to make their speculation sound more authoritative. Or it's a casually tossed off phrase that wasn't intended to mean anything in particular but could be interpreted in a way that was not intended. Back to the matter at hand, I believe it is a fact that Babcock's contract has one year remaining -- he seems to have confirmed that to reporters, which adds credence to it being factually true (although I imagine no one on this forum has seen the actual contract). If it is factually true that he has one year remaining, it is also factually true that about a year from now, he will become a free agent unless he signs a new contract in the meantime. That's the factual basis for all of my posts on this subject, which have moved from that factual basis to speculation on what impact that pending free agency might have on the team.

If no coach in any sport had ever been offered money way outside the "norm," there would be some basis for suggesting it is unlikely to happen. But it has happened and in a free-market economy, it can happen again. $10M was a number I pulled out of the air; it could be $5M, it could be $3M, it could be one dollar more than MB is making now. Hell, it could be LESS than he is making now if the other job conditions were attractive to him. As long as he has the potential to go to free agency, there is the potential he could go elsewhere, regardless of how much he loves hunting, water-skiing, etc. As for calling someone out for speculating, I'm well aware that this entire thread (hell, this and every sports fan forum) is based on conjecture and speculation. If it is offensive to say a statement that begins with "the fact is" but has no verifiable facts is conjecture, I guess I am guilty.

I don't know the source of the salary figure you cite, Euro, but regardless I don't think it is a fact that Babcock won't leave for more money -- it is conjecture. There is nothing stopping any owner from making an offer way above market rates -- it has happened in all other sports and it could happen in hockey, especially for a coach who has won at the two highest levels on earth.

I'm sure everything Babcock said was true -- he likes his life, he likes the team, the grass isn't always greener, etc. But that doesn't mean he is not going to listen to other offers if and when he gets to free agency. Someone comes in and offers $10M/season, you could buy a fancy hunting lodge and a big cottage on a lake for that. This talk will end only if/when MB signs a new contract -- until then he will be fans'/media's darling candidate for every good coaching job in hockey.

Can't win a shootout if you don't score. We were far worse shooting than stopping in shootouts this season.

The Ducks are loaded in goal, and Gibson is a fantastic prospect. They would be near the bottom of teams I'd expect to pitch for Miller.

Val D'or's goalie (Bibaud -- a Leafs sixth-rounder) was unconsciously good. Mantha was the best skater on the ice -- a superb goal, a rocket off the post and he got stoned by the goalie in tight on a partial breakaway.

Might they try to hire Babcock as GM? If they did, I assume he'd be interested in that job and the Wings would not hold him back as it would be considered a promotion.

Of course it's not a problem when the home team is guaranteed to be in it -- that's the point. It would have been a problem if London didn't have a spot guaranteed, IMO, and it would be a huge problem in some other junior markets. London earned their way in in 2005, so the team they beat for the O title (Ottawa) got into the tourney despite losing in the playoffs.

To make this tournament work financially, tickets have to be sold far in advance. Only way you can guarantee that is to give the home team automatic entry. Fortunately, host clubs have historically loaded up and been strong contenders -- and in some cases earned their way in by winning the league championship. London lost out a month ago, but to Guelph. London was arguably the second-best team in the O all season so they're not likely to fall flat on their faces even though they "backed in."

Mantha also scored five goals in six games at world juniors, so he has 86 goals in 87 games so far. Hopefully he puts up at least one more goal than games played in the tournament. Ninety-two total goals for the year would be a nice, Gretzky-esque stat.

I think Bowman was a much different case. He was a lot older and there was no reason to believe he would ever coach anywhere else. He was perceived as close to retirement for most of his tenure in Detroit. And he was not seen as the favourite candidate in every city with a vacancy or potential vacancy the way Babcock is. If he ends up "playing out his option" with the Wings next season, without any statement from him or the team to quash suggestions he could leave of his own accord after the season, I believe it will become a major distraction and will not in any way help the Wings get back to Cup contention next season. I would love to be proven wrong but I would love a lot more to have the whole issue go away once and for all by getting him to sign an extension.

Rob Rossi, Penguins beat reporter with a Pittsburgh paper, just reported on TSN Radio 1050 that Babcock would be interested in the Pens' coaching job if it is open a year from now. This is the trouble -- every decent coaching job (either contending team like Pittsburgh or big-money team like Toronto) is going to be speculated on as a good fit for Babcock as long as he is heading towards free agency. A year of this talk will do the Wings no good and a lot of harm. IMO the org needs to offer him an extension that ensures he's the best-paid coach in hockey. If he refuses to sign, then cut him loose and move on rather than go through a year of death by a thousand cuts.

If Babcock isn't re-signed, IMO being in tough to make the playoffs will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The put-of-town media will ask about and report on his pending free agency at every game on the road, and it will become a massive distraction. That's what happens when the guy widely recognizes as the best in the business heads towards free agency -- and why very few top-drawer coaches in any sport have been allowed to "play out their option year." If the org does not extend him this summer, we will be in for a season of distraction and uncertainty.

As good a job as Blashill has done with the Griffins, there is no evidence he will be a good NHL head coach. Look at Dallas Eakins -- everyone's darling a year ago coming out of the AHL, then had a lousy season were the Oilers appeared to regress. The assumption some have that Blashill is just gonna walk into Babcock's job a year from now and be as good a coach and we all live happily ever after strikes me as folly in the extreme. We have the best coach in hockey, by far IMO, and we should be trying to re-up him for several more years. The idea that his shelf life is coming to an end might have some validity, but all the roster turnover we have had and that is still coming would seem to mitigate that.

The media are gonna report on this all season if Babcock is not re-signed and heads towards free agency. Does anyone think that would be good for the Wings? I think it would become a huge and chances-damaging distraction if it got to that. Which is why I want it addressed by the team well before the season starts. Either re-sign him, or both parties come out once and say there will be no contract talks during the season and there will be no discussion about it. (Not that I think the latter would have a chance of working -- reporters would still speculate constantly about where he's going).

He has already done as well as it is possible to do at every elite level -- NHL, Olympics, world championships. He may not feel he has anything left to prove. He could make a lot of money at Michigan, get job security that is unimaginable in pro hockey, live in his current house and face an entirely new set of challenges. I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility in the least.

As long as Babcock is entering the final year of his contract, this speculation is going to ramp up and get louder. He's the best coach in hockey and he's heading towards free agency -- of course journalists are going to speculate. If the org really wants him to stay, and doesn't want this to be Topic 1 at every road game next year, it should put an end to the speculation.

I think some are underestimating Babcock's willingness to march to his own drummer. I'm not saying he is definitely going to Michigan, but I believe he would consider it a legitimate option, especially if he feels he has reached the end of his shelf life in Detroit. He could still coach in the Olympics and world championships, and his move would ratchet up the profile of college hockey in a major way.