New Jersey Devils: Timing Wouldn’t Be Right to Hire Babcock

This piece may be jumping the gun, but is written under the presumption that the New Jersey Devils will part ways with head coach John Hynes between now and next offseason. As many of us already know, Coach Hynes has been designated as a primary scapegoat for the Devils sorrowful performance this season, with many fans thinking his philosophies and playing system have run their course.

Calls for Hynes’ dismissal spiked among Devils fans yesterday after news that the Toronto Maple Leafs relieved Head Coach Mike Babcock of his duties, stunning the hockey world. As a knee-jerk reaction, many of the Devil’s faithful ramped up their calls to see Hynes get axed for two reasons.

First, the Leafs fired a head coach presiding over a team that is just two points out of a playoff spot (as of writing this piece), which prompted many to wonder why Shero hasn’t followed suit when his squad has been considerably worse this season. The second is the alluring prospect of New Jersey having a touted coach like Mike Babcock to succeed Hynes.

The thought of a renowned Head Coach with Mike Babcock’s resume sounds very compelling at first. He won a Stanley Cup in 2008, reached the finals three times and only missed the playoffs twice over 16 seasons in the NHL.

When you look at the teams Babcock has presided over the years however, it paints a picture of the specific rosters and situations, in which he seems to exclusively thrive. When taking these factors into consideration (while taking for granted that a Devils coaching change is coming), the timing to bring in someone like Mike Babcock might not be right.

Babcock’s teams have primarily been centered around tenured veteran core players that spent years playing together and were either already established, or poised to become playoff contenders.

When he first broke into the NHL with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for example, Babcock had a solid core at his disposal that was ready to win and featured the likes of Paul Kariya, Steve Rucchin, Niclas Havelid, Ruslan Salei and Vitaly Vishnevsky. Over his two seasons, Anaheim primarily acquired players that fit Babcock’s bill—NHL veterans with championships or extensive playoff experience on their resumes—like Petr Sykora, Adam Oates, Sandis Ozolinsh, Steve Thomas and Sergei Federov.

Babcock coached the team to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2003 as a rookie bench boss, an accomplishment that ultimately became a career stepping stone. Babcock opted to not re-sign with Anaheim in the summer of 2005 (one year after Kariya left and missing the playoffs in 2004). While Babcock cited his unwillingness to sign a one-year contract extension, it leads one to wonder how much his belief in Anaheim’s ability to win and setting his sights on greener pastures influenced his decision.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

• Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
• New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
• New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
• New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
• Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?

Prior to his hiring in 2005, Detroit reached the postseason every year since 1991, made four trips to the Stanley Cup Finals and won three championships over that span. Babcock inherited a roster, whose core contained current (and future) Hall of Famers like Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

Yes, Babcock made the playoffs every year as Detroit’s head coach, winning his first Stanley Cup and making back-to-back finals appearances, but the organization’s core assets and winning formula had already been in place for many years prior to his arrival. Although Babcock cited money and taking on a new challenge as his explanation for leaving the Red Wings after 10 seasons, his reasons could be subliminally interpreted as an unwillingness to stick around for Detroit’s current rebuild.

Contrary to the roster at his disposal when he first came to Detroit, Toronto had the complete opposite, but featured an all-star front office staff to work with that was led by Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello. Babcock coached a young up-and-coming team that was saturated with star-quality talent like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Reilly.

While the Leafs became perennial playoff contenders under Babcock’s watch, their failure to advance out of the first round and backwards start that prompted his firing this season raises doubts on his ability to and fully utilize and bring a core of young capable players to the level that teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks reached.

Could Babcock potentially right the ship and get the Devils back in the playoffs? Sure. The concern is how long and to what extent his influence on this current team would stick.

If this were the Devils teams of the late-90s or 00s that were routine playoff contenders with rosters containing seasoned playoff veterans and past Stanley Cup champions, hiring Babcock would be a no-brainer. When you look at the Devil’s young foundation, its similarities to the Leaf’s core a few seasons ago, New Jersey’s glaring issues keeping them anchored in the league’s basement and Babcock’s limited success in Toronto, there doesn’t appear to be a good fit.

Should the Devils make a head coaching change, the next person Ray Shero brings in must have a proven track record of properly developing and having success with young up-and-coming teams. That person isn’t Mike Babcock. His ideal scenario would be a seasoned playoff contender with a veteran-laden roster where can pick up where his predecessor left off, or needs a new voice behind the bench (like the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, or Tampa Bay Lightning).

At another time in the future, perhaps Mike Babcock would be a compatible head coach for the New Jersey Devils, but at this time and moment, the timing wouldn’t be right.