Rumor: Leafs are searching for a GM and coach

[ACC1224]

But it's Buffalo. As in eeewww...Buffalo. Plus, you have a GM who is very controlling and opinionated. Babs won't get the level of control he would want. You think his wife wants to live there? You think they prioritise prospects over their quality of life?

I dont.

There are many beautiful places to live in Western New York, he wouldn't necessarily have to live in downtown Buffalo.

 

[BlueBaron]

Not a teacher... by the time these players get to the pro level they've been taught by numerous coaches and played numerous systems. You need a coach who demands accountability and does not tolerate the crap that has gone on in this locker room since Dion and Phil have shown up. There will be an acceptable level of commitment and if its not met the repercussions will be real simple. Sit till you figure it out or if your not interested then away you go via trade or waiver. Babcock demands respect he is a high intensity guy and garbage like salutegate and fly bys will be forever removed.

I think a teacher can do all that too.

 

[JoeyBeans]

July 1st will be a happy day in Toronto.

 

[Antropovsky]

Pat Quinn, Brian Burke, were absolutely disappointed in being let go by Toronto. Pat Quinn always talked about how he missed being part of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I believe Ron Wilson was also upset about being let go.

When the Leafs are atop of the hockey world, there isn't another place to be in terms of recognition,or being a celebrity. I'd assume that there would be some sponsorship perks as well.

BUT if Babcock was asking about how they will replace Datsyuk and Zetterberg... than the Leafs are definitely out. Marner/Rielly/Nylander are great starting points, but definitely anything but sure things.

 

[Durkin67]

There are many beautiful places to live in Western New York, he wouldn't necessarily have to live in downtown Buffalo.

Cheektowaga VS San Jose... hmmmm.....

Nothing to shovel in Cali.

 

[Lil' Jimmy Norton*]

Pat Quinn, Brian Burke, were absolutely disappointed in being let go by Toronto. Pat Quinn always talked about how he missed being part of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I believe Ron Wilson was also upset about being let go.

When the Leafs are atop of the hockey world, there isn't another place to be in terms of recognition,or being a celebrity. I'd assume that there would be some sponsorship perks as well.

BUT if Babcock was asking about how they will replace Datsyuk and Zetterberg... than the Leafs are definitely out. Marner/Rielly/Nylander are great starting points, but definitely anything but sure things.

Think about the guy who brings this city a cup after all these years...he will be a GOD. That is a hard thing to pass up for a guy with an ego like Babcock. They will also pay him to do it and it will be a boatload of cash!! Get Strome in the draft... That would be a nice piece to add to the mix.

 

[Northern Dancer]

There are many beautiful places to live in Western New York, he wouldn't necessarily have to live in downtown Buffalo.

Sssssshhhhhh, don't destroy another myth with the truth.

 

[Rare Jewel]

July 1st will be a happy day in Toronto.

He's not going to wait until then, Detroit won't receive any compensation.


And isn't it interesting that Buffalo has two 2nd's as well.

 

[ULF_55]

I already answered this. GM/VP before Coach. Why would you bring in a coach that the VP/GM has no say in? I don't care if this was Toe Blake or Mike Babcock. Why would we go back to a Burke inheriting Wilson situation, or Shanahan inheriting Carlyle scenario? I thought you wanted progressive Management?

I get the feeling the GM they hire is going to have to fit in Shanahan's vision of the team, not decide the vision of the team.

If Leafs get a coach first, the GM would only be hired if he agreed with that decision.

It does not sound like the GM is the top of the pyramid going forward.

 

[Northern Dancer]

He's not going to wait until then, Detroit won't receive any compensation.


And isn't it interesting that Buffalo has two 2nd's as well.

Not working that way, if he signs with any team that has chatted with him this month, its a 3rd round pick. Nill was very coy about the way he worked this.

 

[trellaine201]

Cheektowaga VS San Jose... hmmmm.....

Nothing to shovel in Cali.

And the fires in Lackawana

 

[Stats01]

I am on the same line of thought. You would think a great coach would want to come into a situation where he can build it from the ground up so to speak. The fact that he is concerned about losing Datsyuk and Zetterberg tells me he knows who has been buttering his toast. Detroit is reaching a point where they will have to have a real good coach to keep them in contention and now it seems he wants out.

If he jumps ship to Edmonton to me it will be a sign of a good coach knowing when to bail on a team. A great coach would stay and build it back up again.

Or he's being a smart guy and taking advantage of his success and seeing what he can get on the open market. He doesn't have to stay in Detroit..and if he leaves it doesn't mean he bailed on them. The situation of him being a free agent has dictated things, it has nothing to do with him bailing on one team or another. He's looking out for what situation is the best fit for him and his family. Him asking how they'll replace Datsyuk and Zetterberg is just a small detail in the bigger picture. Whatever their answer was is just another piece of info he will use to make his choice.

Babcock has done the max he can do with Detroit, he's won a cup and he's gotten into the playoffs every single year with a roster that is getting older and being filled with inexpensive players from Grand Rapids. It's great that Detroit develops players but it takes time time for those players to gain playoff experience. When Babcock asks Detroit about how will we replace Datsyuk and Zetterberg I'm pretty sure he's not looking for a "we'll promote from within" type of answer. Babcock is a great coach but you definitely need the organization to spend a bit of money to get some free agent talent to surround the young guys.

 

[SeenSchenn2]

For those interested in advanced stats, a different take on coaches:

Note: Shows Boucher is bad.

http://theleafsnation.com/2015/5/11/the-underlying-numbers-of-the-leafs-head-coaching-candidates

 

[Nithoniniel]

For those interested in advanced stats, a different take on coaches:

Note: Shows Boucher is bad.

http://theleafsnation.com/2015/5/11/the-underlying-numbers-of-the-leafs-head-coaching-candidates

Problem is that it's really impossible to know what the effect on Babcock on those Detroit numbers is, as he's been a constant. I think on this subject it gives you much more to try to dissect the system choices more than looking at team results.

For example, the author talks up Eakins because his possession numbers were looking up this season before getting fired. But the coaching change actually produced a fairly big bump in their possession game, showing that Eakins system actually was more a hindrance than a boon for his team in that regard.

 

[Amadeus]

Problem is that it's really impossible to know what the effect on Babcock on those Detroit numbers is, as he's been a constant. I think on this subject it gives you much more to try to dissect the system choices more than looking at team results.

I think to properly gauge an effect of a coach on the team you have to take a tenure and do an analysis on that tenure - look at consistencies etc.

 

[Rare Jewel]

For those interested in advanced stats, a different take on coaches:

Note: Shows Boucher is bad.

http://theleafsnation.com/2015/5/11/the-underlying-numbers-of-the-leafs-head-coaching-candidates

Let's consider the personal perhaps, I mean Dan Bylsma almost singlehandedly proves that in that article. I think he's a pretty good coach, But for some reason he can't get a job.

This post was made by a TB fan.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=102126831&postcount=252
.
In the SA - He went 27.1 to 30. And I mean look at that defense. It was already fairly old to being with, And it looks to have aged even more on him as time went on.

 

[tzinc]

Toronto pays millions to a bunch of executives including the head exec in Shanny who has no experience... who then hires his own GM staff... what GM and/or Coach with a winning record and loads of experience would want to come into a situation like that?

 

[ULF_55]

Toronto pays millions to a bunch of executives including the head exec in Shanny who has no experience... who then hires his own GM staff... what GM and/or Coach with a winning record and loads of experience would want to come into a situation like that?

An unemployed one.

You might be right, someone who can't get along with people may not want to join a team.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Nick Kypreos believes that Mike Babcock isn't yet sure which team is best for him to continue his coaching career with, but expects that an agreement will come "within two weeks."

http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-3/Nick-Kypreos-with-Jeff-Blair-jb-20150511-Interview.mp3

 

[BlueBaron]

For those interested in advanced stats, a different take on coaches:

Note: Shows Boucher is bad.

http://theleafsnation.com/2015/5/11/the-underlying-numbers-of-the-leafs-head-coaching-candidates

LOL. I can't take coaching advanced stats seriously. Do you ?

There are just too many moving pieces. Babcock coaching the Oilers is a much different story than coaching the Red Wings. You may be able to show tendencies of his players after he has had time to influence them, but even that is difficult with players being taught the team system on the farm long before arriving.

 

[hockeywiz542]

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Mike Richards and Dave Bastl to discuss Mike Babcock's discussions with Brendan Shanahan.

http://iphone.tsn.ca/tsnpodcasts/MR_Dreger_May11.mp3

 

[hockeywiz542]

The boys from Leafs Lunch discuss the latest Mike Babcock news, and the concerns they have about hiring a coach before a GM.

http://www.tsn.ca/video/issues-with-hiring-a-coach-before-a-gm-1.280422

 

[burpsalot]

...okay. It's not like he didn't land the team exactly where he was trying to despite others coming hard for the spot or anything. We'll see where he rates as a GM when he gets his roster on the ice.

He already lost the Winnipeg trade & that was with Cheveldayoff having his hand tied behind his back.

 

[senor martinez]

Nick Kypreos believes that Mike Babcock isn't yet sure which team is best for him to continue his coaching career with, but expects that an agreement will come "within two weeks."

http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-3/Nick-Kypreos-with-Jeff-Blair-jb-20150511-Interview.mp3

Kypreos is correct as usual and Babcock will plunder his thoughts during these two weeks and only then sign with us. We will get ours for certainly and Babcock will easily do whatever he wants. Hockey is his. I'm sure so many of us and coaches admire Jose Mourinho in the football world. Babcock doesn't want to be any lesser. Babcock will always gets what he wants and he might want toronto now. He will school the media here and also the whole organization. Shanahan knows this and wants Babby.

 

[hockeywiz542]

According to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, Brendan Shanahan’s ultra-secretive search for a general manager meanders on with a large portion of the hockey world left wondering exactly where the wealthiest team in the National Hockey League is headed.

Whatever the Shanaplan involves — and that seems to include the hiring or wooing of a Maple Leafs coach before he hires the next Leafs general manager — it does not centre around anything resembling conventional hockey thinking or order.

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/11/leafs-gm-search-leaves-many-scratching-their-heads

Clearly, Shanahan has chosen to look the other way on well-regarded general managers with winning records and impressive resumes. He passed on Peter Chiarelli, hired quickly by Bob Nicholson in Edmonton after being fired in Boston. He passed on Ray Shero, hired quickly by the experienced Lou Lamoriello in New Jersey, when Lamoriello was pushed upstairs. He hasn’t spoken to George McPhee, architect of the Washington Capitals.

Shanahan is doing things his way. Whether that’s the right way will be determined in time.

And in attempting to find the proper fit for a front office in which the assistant GMs are firmly in place, Shanahan is more likely headed in the direction of an executive on the rise, a lesser name, someone like Jeff Gorton of the New York Rangers or Mike Futa of the Los Angeles Kings, who by their very employment present a modicum of difficulty in the short term.

Those names aren’t necessarily sexy or sellable — unless you talk to people in the business. Then you’d find out they are considered to be quality hockey people.

The complications, though, of bringing in a Gorton or a Futa, are quite different from hiring a Chiarelli or a Shero.

And in the meantime, Mark Hunter, now an interim GM and director of player personnel, is not the general manager, but the whispers are that he wouldn’t mind being the GM.

Hunter and assistant GM Kyle Dubas are currently going through coaching candidates with Shanahan. But the GM, under normal circumstances, should be the guy hiring the coach.

Hunter is either hiring people or promising jobs to some — again, the kind of hirings a GM would or should want final say over. There can be no business as usual for the Leafs without a GM in place — as much as they’d like to tell you all is well. The Leafs need a coach and the Mike Babcock Sweepstakes — with the eventual game of musical coaching chairs that will follow — is on, and expected to move quickly. That coach should be hired by the GM.

In fact, would any coach — except a desperate one — accept an NHL appointment without knowing who his general manager is going to be? The two need to work hand-in-hand, or at least understand each other well. Why would an in-demand coach such as Babcock consider any job in which he doesn’t know for whom is he is working?

And it isn’t just that. Without a GM, the Leafs are talking to — and possibly even hiring — front-office people who would normally be hired by the GM. Word keeps circulating that Sean Burke will have some kind of senior management/goaltending role with the club. Word around is that Lindsay Hofford, formerly Hunter’s head coach in London, will soon have a player personnel role with the Leafs.

One NHL GM wondered yesterday: “Are the Leafs running a junior team or an NHL team? Dubs is still tied in to the Soo. Hunter is still tied in to London.â€