Blue Jackets Intend To Hire Mike Babcock As Next Coach

He Blue Columbus Jackets they are expected to hire Mike Babcock as their next head coach after his contract with toronto ends June 30, a team source not yet authorized to speak publicly confirmed to the athletic on Saturday. TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report on the expected hire. Here’s what you need to know:

• Babcock would replace Brad Larsen, who he was fired in april after two losing seasons in Columbus.
• Babcock has not trained in the NHL since 2019, he let the Maple Leafs go after a 9-10-4 start to the 2019-20 season.
• The Blue Jackets finished with the second-worst record in the league last season at 25-48-9.

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What to do with the expected hire

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen felt the organization’s “accepted standards” had eroded dramatically over two seasons with Larsen at the helm, so it’s no surprise they turned to a veteran coach who is known for leading with a steady hand But it will still come as a surprise to many to see Babcock resurface, especially with a roster this young that is a long way from playoff-caliber.

The Blue Jackets would do well to expect some fan backlash given the way Babcock started in Toronto. Shortly after being fired in 2019, reports of emotional and verbal abuse of players he trained in Toronto and Detroit surfaced. — Porcelain

background

Babcock, 60, has a 700-418-183 regular-season record with Anaheim, detroit and Toronto, a .608 point percentage and a 90-74 record in the playoffs. He reached the Stanley Cup final three times, once with Anaheim and twice with Detroit, and won a Stanley Cup title in 2008 with the Red Wings, along with two Olympic gold medals (2010 and 2014 with Canada), a IIHF World Championship (2004 with Canada), an IIHF World Junior Championship (1997 with Canada), and a World Cup gold medal (2017 with Canada).

In February 2021, it was hired as volunteer head coach at the University of Saskatchewan, but left the position last summer.

Columbus missed the playoffs for the third straight year this season, finishing last in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets have the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft this month.

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(Photo: Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)