The final NHL head coaching vacancy has officially been filled. Prior to the opening of free agency Saturday, the Blue Jackets announced that they have named Mike Babcock as their new head coach, signing him to a two-year deal. Earlier this week, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported (subscription link) that the contract will pay Babcock $4M per season. GM Jarmo Kekalainen released the following statement:
Our goal at the outset of this process was to find a coach to give our players the best chance to succeed through structure, discipline and experience as we continue to build a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup championship. After a very thorough and lengthy process, we are pleased to welcome Mike Babcock as the next head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It was reported last month that Babcock was set to take over as the new bench boss for Columbus. However, since he was still under contract with Toronto until yesterday, the team waited until today to make the hire to ensure that the Maple Leafs alone were the only team paying out the remainder of his record-breaking eight-year, $50M contract.
Babcock hasn’t been behind an NHL bench for a while as he last coached during the 2019-20 campaign before being let go by Toronto after an underwhelming 9-10-4 start to their season. Since then, his coaching experience has been limited to one season as a volunteer coach at the University of Saskatchewan. However, the Blue Jackets believe that he’s the right fit to turn things around after they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference last season.
Babcock has a 700-418-183 record over parts of 17 NHL seasons between Anaheim, Detroit, and Toronto. Internationally, he is the only member of the ’Triple Gold’ club among coaches (Olympics, World Championships, and a Stanley Cup). That experience comes in stark contrast to former head coach Brad Larsen who was a first-time NHL bench boss before being let go after the season.
Columbus has certainly been active this offseason already, looking to augment its roster. On the back end, they’ve acquired Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, giving them two proven top-four pieces to help take some of the pressure off Zach Werenski who should be ready to go after missing most of last season due to injury. Up front, they picked up Adam Fantilli in the draft this week and are encouraging him to turn pro right away; TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests (Twitter link) that his signing could occur today. With nearly $5M in cap space, per CapFriendly, they could still try to add another piece or two in free agency or on the trade front.
Kekalainen clearly believes last year’s showing was an aberration with the hiring of Babcock, a win-now coach, and his defensive upgrades. The Blue Jackets play in a tight Metropolitan Division that has only one team (Philadelphia) looking to bottom out so even with these moves, their work to get back to the playoffs is going to be cut out for them.
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