While nearly every team with a head coach opening is likely to have ample interest in long-time Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock, according to a recent report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Buffalo Sabres may have a leg up on a fair number of the competition.
Friedman, who refers to the Sabres as a "top contender" for Babcock - along with Philly and Detroit - is about as plugged-in an NHL media source as exists anywhere. He's intimately familiar with the inner machinations of the league and almost always has his finger on the pulse of any and every happening in and around the NHL.
Thus, when he points to a team as downtrodden as the Sabres as a potential landing spot for Babcock, it means there is real talk of it as a possibility - where that talk is emanating from then becomes the question.
"The Sabres have Tim Murray (who worked with Babcock in Anaheim), an owner who wants to do all the right things, lots of young pieces and, you assume, Jack Eichel. Remember that minutes before the lottery, Murray called Eichel "a number-one center on a Stanley Cup contender," before temporarily losing his mind moments later," writes Friedman.
Among those young pieces Friedman references is the recently acquired Evander Kane, a potentially dominant power forward who would likely either thrive or bottom out under the notoriously tough task-master.
While it's entirely possible that Kane could continue to display the same type of youthful insconsistency and combustible personality which marked his time in Winnipeg, if there's any coach in the NHL who could take his prodigious talents and turn him into a consistently productive force, it's Babcock.
If Eichel indeed becomes a member of the Sabres franchise as well - and he almost assuredly will - Babcock will have plenty of building blocks with which to put together a perennial contender in his own well-defined image.
As Friedman himself notes, though, there are impediments to a potential union.
"First, Mike Babcock is wired to win. He cannot stand to lose more than anyone I've ever met. Yes, Buffalo wants to get better, but how long will it take? Can he tolerate two or three more years of defeat? Not easily. Second, while Babcock does not need absolute personnel control, he likes to have a say. Holland is excellent at managing their relationship. He understands when to say yes and when to say no. Murray likes to have control. How hard will it be for them to come to a consensus?"
The Sabres are likely at least a season or two away from being able to post a winning record, let alone contending for a Stanley Cup - this seems like the biggest roadblock in the here and now for Babs and the Sabres.
If Babcock wants to walk in and win from Day One, Buffalo isn't the place for him.
Then again, if he wants to build a consistent winner from scratch, the Sabres could be perfect - Buffalo has all of that young talent, which seems likely to develop and mature simultaneously in the next couple of seasons. A window of opportunity may exist which Babcock could presumably open even wider with his intense focus and commitment - just look at the work he's been able to do in Detroit with players like Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist.
As for Babcock's fit alongside Murray, it's doubtful that this would keep the two sides from forming an alliance. Murray likes to have control - sure, what NHL personnel man doesn't?
But you don't hire a coach like Mike Babcock and then limit him.
If Murray were lucky enough to land Babcock this offseason, he'd almost assuredly create enough space to allow Babcock to make the personnel decisions he wants to make because really, if your team is potentially missing out on an elite coach because of your GM's ego then there are issues with your franchise beyond just needing a new bench boss.
