That’s nice for the Coyotes, but has nothing to do wth Babcock being the most overrated coach in the NHL.
- Makita

The original post was about "nerd GMs" and had nothing to do with Babcock's coaching prowess.

Chayka is a "nerd GM" who is all about advanced stats. Much like Dubas.

The coach is coaching like a coach who wants to get fired

Weird. It's almost like certain people have been calling out this failed Shanaplan from the start.

Team Gutless strikes again!

They haven't had a full lineup yet, and they wont have a full lineup until 2020 at the earliest, baring any more injuries.

- j_eng

Pens are missing a 1/3 of their lineup including Crosby and Letang and they still won 6-1 with a back up in net.

Leafs are an impressive collection of hockey cards but not a good team.

Pens are missing a 1/3 of their lineup including Crosby and Letang and they still won 6-1 with a back up in net.

Leafs are an impressive collection of hockey cards but not a good team.
- Murphy_Dump

This is an excellent phrase.

Nah, I don’t see nonstop lectures about “checking your privilege” going over well
- Za Warudo

Excellent point

Pens are missing a 1/3 of their lineup including Crosby and Letang and they still won 6-1 with a back up in net.

Leafs are an impressive collection of hockey cards but not a good team.
- Murphy_Dump

You're right. The Leafs have played like dog crap all year. This is WHY the conversation is happening, because they put up zero effort against a team that they should have at least been on equal footing with.

Who's to blame?

Shanahan? Yes, he let Lamarello go before the big 4's contracts got done. Now they are in cap hell.

Dubas? Yes, poor contract negotaitions, letting Mchilheney go, poor trades. Roster is not deep enough to be considered a true contender.

Babcock? Yes, unable to adapt to the times. Consistently getting out coached.

Hakstol? Yes, brought in to replace Smith as d coach. Their d has been horrible!!! Their penalty kill is worse.

McFarland? Yes, Brought in as an elite PP coach. With the talent in they have, there is no way they should be near the bottom of the league in PP

Players? Hell yes, their greed has cost them any chance they had of competing for a cup in Toronto.

Who's to blame?

Shanahan? Yes, he let Lamarello go before the big 4's contracts got done. Now they are in cap hell.

Dubas? Yes, poor contract negotaitions, letting Mchilheney go, poor trades. Roster is not deep enough to be considered a true contender.

Babcock? Yes, unable to adapt to the times. Consistently getting out coached.

Hakstol? Yes, brought in to replace Smith as d coach. Their d has been horrible!!! Their penalty kill is worse.

McFarland? Yes, Brought in as an elite PP coach. With the talent in they have, there is no way they should be near the bottom of the league in PP

Players? Hell yes, their greed has cost them any chance they had of competing for a cup in Toronto.
- rottiman71

So, fire all the management and coaching and trade all the players, eh?

Don Cherry new GM and coach

So, fire all the management and coaching and trade all the players, eh?
- RafiDRW

You have to admit it would be an interesting approach

Ok this whole letting curtis macelhinney go thing has to stop. Step back for a second and think...36 yo coming off a career year vs. A 25 yo with lifetime ahl stats of like a .930 spct. You had to at least see if sparks could do the job of a backup. Not a starter but a backup. Fact is no goalie has ever put up such high ahl numbers and failed so miserably. So dont put that on dubas. He made the right call there, as for the contracts.....the matthews one, not the nylander one, was the one that stung the most. Because it set the bar for marner.
As for babcock....this is a coach who burried holl behind marincin all of last year . Watching holl this year, you have to ask how the hell a coach does that knowing what holl is now. You gotta wonder what else babs is stubbornly ignoring. Ie. Why isnt barrie being paired with reilly instead of playing reilly with ceci. Barrie didnt forget how to play hockey in 4 months. You want to shelter ceci, put him with muzzin. Theres so much more. Time for a change.

Babcock has done a horrible job for a long time. He must and will be fired. This team is way too talented to be playing like this. They erred in not firing him after game 7 of the playoffs.

Babcock has done a horrible job for a long time. He must and will be fired. This team is way too talented to be playing like this. They erred in not firing him after game 7 of the playoffs.
- RogerRoeper

Nah...now was the right time or is. Its only november. New coach and a winning streak will chamge everything.

Who's to blame?

Shanahan? Yes, he let Lamarello go before the big 4's contracts got done. Now they are in cap hell.

Dubas? Yes, poor contract negotaitions, letting Mchilheney go, poor trades. Roster is not deep enough to be considered a true contender.

Babcock? Yes, unable to adapt to the times. Consistently getting out coached.

Hakstol? Yes, brought in to replace Smith as d coach. Their d has been horrible!!! Their penalty kill is worse.

McFarland? Yes, Brought in as an elite PP coach. With the talent in they have, there is no way they should be near the bottom of the league in PP

Players? Hell yes, their greed has cost them any chance they had of competing for a cup in Toronto.
- rottiman71

I hate the idea Lou would be so much better in contracts. He's been horriblel for years with contracts. The islanders right now easily have a worse cap situation than the Leafs.

While Lou may have saved $ on the big names, he would have signed a 4th line for 13 million with contracts you can't trade while doing so. Dubas would have been destroyed giving a washed-up 33 year-old 4 years at 3 million per on the 4th line (Komorov).

At risk of eating my words, the early season small sample size sure indicates the Sabres won the Babcock sweepstakes after all....to be clear I’m sure he’ll turn things around and all this really shows is that he’s flawed like most coaches, but also that he’s probably not worth that contract.
- nikel

So Sabres won the Babcock sweepstakes by hiring Dan Bysma and Phil Housley instead? Those were better moves? Sabres are on their 3rd coach since Babcock was hired by the Leafs. It's been a disaster in Buffalo. Going on their 9th year with no playoffs.

Who's to blame?

Shanahan? Yes, he let Lamarello go before the big 4's contracts got done. Now they are in cap hell.

Dubas? Yes, poor contract negotaitions, letting Mchilheney go, poor trades. Roster is not deep enough to be considered a true contender.

Babcock? Yes, unable to adapt to the times. Consistently getting out coached.

Hakstol? Yes, brought in to replace Smith as d coach. Their d has been horrible!!! Their penalty kill is worse.

McFarland? Yes, Brought in as an elite PP coach. With the talent in they have, there is no way they should be near the bottom of the league in PP

Players? Hell yes, their greed has cost them any chance they had of competing for a cup in Toronto.
- rottiman71

Babcock will take the fall for Dubas's poor roster.

I hate the idea Lou would be so much better in contracts. He's been horriblel for years with contracts. The islanders right now easily have a worse cap situation than the Leafs.

While Lou may have saved $ on the big names, he would have signed a 4th line for 13 million with contracts you can't trade while doing so. Dubas would have been destroyed giving a washed-up 33 year-old 4 years at 3 million per on the 4th line (Komorov).
- RogerRoeper

Love or hate Lou.. He took a team that lost their best player and made them into a regular season powerhouse. Dubas took a team on the rise..Sign the Islanders best players and turned them into a .500 team.

Babcock will take the fall for Dubas's poor roster.
- Azuredoom

Babcock doesn't even play the players properly Dubas gives him. It's insane Tyson Barrie has never had a shift on the 1st PP unit. That's on Babcock.

Love or hate Lou.. He took a team that lost their best player and made them into a regular season powerhouse. Dubas took a team on the rise..Sign the Islanders best players and turned them into a .500 team.
- Azuredoom

Islanders are far better coached. That's the difference.

Islanders do not have a good cap situation at all.

The problem with the Leafs is how they're built.

1. Average goaltending. Leaf fans will tell you how great Andersson is, but the numbers disagree. Imagine if they had Lehner. They would easily be a top 5 team.

2. Unimproved defense. Replacing Barrie with Gardner is an improvement. Replacing Zaitsev with Ceci? Um........

3. Lack of gritty forwards.
- RedRevenge

Are you sure it's Leaf fans saying that? I have heard for 2-3 years from rival fans Andersen carries the team and is unbelievable. He's top 10 goalie nothing better.

Babcock will take the fall for Dubas's poor roster.
- Azuredoom

There is an in house fix to this - Cliff Fletcher is working on a 10 player trade right now.

Babcock will take the fall for Dubas's poor roster.
- Azuredoom

Overpaid soft roster. Have to give Chiarelli credit for the 8.5 mill Drysaddle contract. What a steal!!!!

Babcock will take the fall for Dubas's poor roster.
- Azuredoom

Will you change your tune if this team starts winning with a new coach?

Overpaid soft roster. Have to give Chiarelli credit for the 8.5 mill Drysaddle contract. What a steal!!!!
- Landsbergfan

And i'm sure you thought that 2 years ago...

Leaf contracts will be no different