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The No. 1 free agent set to hit the market July 1st is free to talk with teams about his future. Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland has granted permission to his coach Mike Babcock to test the market.
Babcock made the request saying, "I just felt, after 10 years, the opportunity was out there. I'm going to ride this process out." But he also stressed that it's nothing more than exploratory and was quoted as saying. "People can read it into it what they want. There is no decision made at all. We really like it here. My family loves Detroit. It's way easier for my family to stay here, 100% easier. My kids are all going away, but they still want to come back to Detroit on Thanksgiving. They want to come back to Detroit in the summer to work out. So it's way easier for them."
That's the family side of the man who many consider the top coach in the NHL.
He's said time and time again that his family is one of he top priorities in his life and even went as far to say that his wife Maureen, not Holland, is the boss. With that said, her opinion will carry a ton of weight in his decision. "In talking to him this afternoon," said longtime Wings beat writer Helene St. James on WGR's Mike Schopp and the Bulldog Show yesterday, "I get the impression his wife would like to stay here (in Detroit.)
Holland, who talked to Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Illitch before coming to this decision, did lay out some parameters for Babcock's venture. He doesn't want this to be a long process and should the coach move on, he'd like to know within two to three weeks. Also, should Babcock go to another team, said team will send a third round pick Detroit's way within the next three years. Of note, Buffalo has four 3rd-round picks in the 2016 draft.
In a Detroit Free Press article from yesterday as well, St. James also laid out what kind of salary Babcock is looking for. "He is believed to be seeking at least $4 million per year, double his current salary," wrote St. James. "He wants to be the league's highest-paid coach (currently believed to be Chicago's Joel Quenneville, with a base salary of $2.75 million). The Wings have offered four years at $3.25 million annually."
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos took it a step further when he tweeted this. "Told offer was substantially higher then Quenneville's who is highest paid. As of now #RedWings not willing to pay 5m per yr. as others might."
Those "others" include the Buffalo Sabres who happen to be in the market for a coach.
As the entire universe knows, Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula have a shipload of cash and they ain't afraid to spend it. That would include spending on coaches as well. Despite cringes from other owners as the cost of doing business for coaches services would skyrocket, the Pegula's wouldn't flinch at dishing out $5million per season for a coach of Babcock's stature.
Engraved on a plaque in the Sabres locker room are these words, "The Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to win a Stanley Cup," culled from Terry Pegula's first press conference. The Pegulas are doing their part as owners by taking off the financial constraints that had held the franchise back under the ownership of Tom Golisano. They've put poured mass resources into scouting and player development departments and have upgraded the First Niagara Center as well as the area in downtown Buffalo surrounding it.
They haven't spent much on player salaries since a drunken sailor honeymoon when the Pegula's first took over, but then again, they're well past that failure and the failures of the previous regimes. When the time comes they have the financial resources to spend what they'll need to and with the number of youngins set to come through the ranks in the next few years, they'll have the cap space to pursue who they want.
But, they need to start winning, and if they can land Babcock, it will certainly speed up the process.
St. James thinks Buffalo has the second-best chance of getting Babcock. She puts the percentages of the Red Wings keeping Babcock loosely at 60/40, tops on her list. On Buffalo she said (via WGR,) "I know he has a very close relationship with people in Buffalo, maybe Buffalo No. 2 and Edmonton No. 3."
Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News also has Buffalo running No. 2 behind Detroit. "Babcock and Sabres GM Tim Murray go back a long way," he wrote when charting Babcock's potential destinations, "and Buffalo will select Jack Eichel with the second overall pick. Sabres owner Terry Pegula has deep pockets and paid big money to get Rex Ryan for his NFL Bills."
Babcock is headed to the Czech Republic, to catch the remainder of the 2015 IIHF World Championships. "I want to see Dylan Larkin," Babcock told St. James. The 19 yr. old Larkin "is the closest answer they have to Babcock's question of who's going to replace (36 yr. old) Pavel Datsyuk down the road," said St. James on GR.
It just so happens that Larkin is a team mate of Eichel's on the USA squad, so in taking in Detroit's prospect, Babcock will also have the opportunity to see Eichel in action. The 18 yr. old has been getting better every game. He has five assists, is a plus three and has seen his ice time increase over the course of the first five games of the preliminary round going from 14:47 minutes in the first game to peeking out at 18:47 against Group-B top-seeded Russia.
Larkin and Eichel are both extremely talented, yet different players. And as much as I like Larkin, it would seem as if Eichel is a little more Datsyuk-like.
The question is, can Babcock project a Cup-winning situation in Buffalo with the pieces in place now, a few years down the road?
We'll know the answer within a few weeks.
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