While it won't come as a surprise to anyone who watched the Detroit Red Wings teams he coached for a decade, Mike Babcock's new Toronto Maple Leafs squad is already turning heads around the NHL this season. Despite a 1-5-2 record thus far in 2015-16, Babcock's Leafs are reportedly making strides on the ice that have other team executives ready to buy into Toronto's future. If, that is, Babcock and GM Lou Lamoriello can stick to the plan.
"Way more structured, like way, way more," a team executive from a rival Eastern Conference team said of the Leafs this season, via ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. "More disciplined. The goaltending hasn't been good enough so far.
"They're not a very good team on paper, but Babcock is instilling the right framework. I like the idea of their big-term plan, but they need to execute it. Drafting and developing is so huge. I like what I'm seeing so far. But will they stick with it?"
If there's any coach in the league willing to stick to a long-term plan even at the expense of the immediate season's fortunes, it's Babcock. While he made it clear during his introductory press conference in Toronto that he wants to win and he wants to win now, he also indicated that the "Cup process" would take time. And recent comments from newly-installed Leafs GM Lamoriello certainly seem to suggest an organizational patience where the on-ice product is concerned.
"I feel real good about everything that I've seen," Lamoriello said, via LeBrun. "Certainly coming in here without any preconceived notion, just about everything was in place, whether it be the staff or whether it be the players. So I have a pretty good seat to be completely objective. There's no question that the plan is in place, and the process is going to be consistent, and each and every one of us are in the same thought process. There is light at the end of the tunnel."
That "light" would seem to include players like William Nylander and Connor Brown, players who the team sent back to the AHL for further development this season even though they technically probably could make the jump to the NHL and help the team win. But wins this season aren't what it's about for Babcock and Lamoriello.
Instead, their focus is on drafting, on developing and on implementing Babcock's system, so that when that next wave of NHL talent does come down the Leafs pipeline, the team can integrate them without much fuss. And really, there's no guarantee that this season will continue as is. Once Babcock's possession-focused approach takes hold, there's every possibility that a talented, but out-of-sorts Leafs team will find a winning way. As LeBrun notes, the Leafs' possession metrics are trending upward and the team just looks to be playing a tougher, more responsible brand of hockey. And yet a successful season remains unlikely.
Still, Toronto fans should take heart. This plan is meant to create a consistent, decade-long winner, just like Babcock had previously in Detroit. All it requires is a deft personnel hand, and commitment.
