ShaneFalco
Registered User
“In Detroit, we tried to get our guys to take less so we could have championship opportunity… If you don’t do that, you can’t win at the end”
We know that, in the hard cap era, the salary cap is a constant part of the conversation and the debate. We talk about it all the time on this show. As a coach, how does that affect how you have conversations with Kyle? Can you just walk up and say, “I want this guy?” Or, is it, “Here is why I want this guy, but also because of the cap ramifications, here is how it might factor into the overall conversation?” How often does the cap come up with you?
Babcock:
[Brandon Pridham] is our cap guy so we are talking about this stuff all the time. The business is the business. When you sit down at your kitchen table and there is a rhubarb pie there and one of you takes half the pie, there is half left for the rest of us. That is just how it goes. We all understand that. What we have to do is treat the players as fairly as possible.
I really like what Tavares did. He came here and took way less to come here. That’s what we tried to do with all of our guys in Detroit – we tried to get them to take less so we could continue to win on a nightly basis and have championship opportunity. If you don’t do that, you can’t win at the end. You run out of money and you can’t have enough depth. Right now, we are set up real well, I believe, to have a real five-year run here. We’ve got to do a good job with the cap and our signings, without any question. We will. We will be able to keep our group together and give ourselves a chance and grow into the team we want to be.
That’s a segue into William Nylander and his situation. There are contract talks ongoing. The season starts Wednesday night. Looking back on camp, without him here, how did you adjust camp? How did that factor into the way you played out the preseason?
Babcock: What I tried to do is put everyone in their real spot. What I mean by that is I planned on Willy being in the lineup. But we gave Leivo and Ennis an unbelievable opportunity that they might not have got. They might have shared that opportunity with Naz instead of both getting a real good opportunity. By doing so, it is way easier. Anybody who has played will tell you when you’re not sure and spend too much thinking, you don’t play as good. When you are on a line every day and you know where you’re at, you get a chance for your skill to come out.
I thought Leivs had one of his best games at the end. I thought Ennis was good as well. He got to play on a good line and he provided some good speed and made some good plays on it. To me, that works out fine.
I am not trying to say anybody replaces Willy. We’d love to have Willy back. There are ongoing negotiations, obviously, between his side and our side. They’ll find a way to get it worked out.
We know that, in the hard cap era, the salary cap is a constant part of the conversation and the debate. We talk about it all the time on this show. As a coach, how does that affect how you have conversations with Kyle? Can you just walk up and say, “I want this guy?” Or, is it, “Here is why I want this guy, but also because of the cap ramifications, here is how it might factor into the overall conversation?” How often does the cap come up with you?
Babcock:
[Brandon Pridham] is our cap guy so we are talking about this stuff all the time. The business is the business. When you sit down at your kitchen table and there is a rhubarb pie there and one of you takes half the pie, there is half left for the rest of us. That is just how it goes. We all understand that. What we have to do is treat the players as fairly as possible.
I really like what Tavares did. He came here and took way less to come here. That’s what we tried to do with all of our guys in Detroit – we tried to get them to take less so we could continue to win on a nightly basis and have championship opportunity. If you don’t do that, you can’t win at the end. You run out of money and you can’t have enough depth. Right now, we are set up real well, I believe, to have a real five-year run here. We’ve got to do a good job with the cap and our signings, without any question. We will. We will be able to keep our group together and give ourselves a chance and grow into the team we want to be.
That’s a segue into William Nylander and his situation. There are contract talks ongoing. The season starts Wednesday night. Looking back on camp, without him here, how did you adjust camp? How did that factor into the way you played out the preseason?
Babcock: What I tried to do is put everyone in their real spot. What I mean by that is I planned on Willy being in the lineup. But we gave Leivo and Ennis an unbelievable opportunity that they might not have got. They might have shared that opportunity with Naz instead of both getting a real good opportunity. By doing so, it is way easier. Anybody who has played will tell you when you’re not sure and spend too much thinking, you don’t play as good. When you are on a line every day and you know where you’re at, you get a chance for your skill to come out.
I thought Leivs had one of his best games at the end. I thought Ennis was good as well. He got to play on a good line and he provided some good speed and made some good plays on it. To me, that works out fine.
I am not trying to say anybody replaces Willy. We’d love to have Willy back. There are ongoing negotiations, obviously, between his side and our side. They’ll find a way to get it worked out.
