When he signed his contract with the Leafs, Mike Babcock broke the bank.
After all, he signed an eight-year deal with the Toronto organization that paid him $6.25 million per season…
That’s a lot of money for a coach.
When he signed his contract, Babcock broke an NHL record for the amount of money paid to an NHL coach per year.
But that “record” could soon be broken, according to Kevin Weekes on Twitter/X.
And we’re talking about an active coach:
Of course, you might ask who we’re talking about.
Jon Cooper, Mike Sullivan, Jared Bednar, Rod Brind’Amour, Sheldon Keefe, André Tourigny, Martin St-Louis(who is under contract for three years with the Habs), Bruce Cassidy, John Tortorella and Peter DeBoer are the 10 coaches (in order) with the longest tenure with their current teams…
But it goes even further than that.
When you look closely at the situation(Cap Friendly), you realize that Jon Cooper and Rod Brind’Amour have no contract with their club for next season.
That said… Ron Francis (Kraken GM) has just fired his coach, and he knows Brind’Amour well.
Could the Hurricanes lose their coach?
Jon Cooper is also a logical candidate because he’s one of (if not the) best coach in the NHL. He’s proven himself, he’s won, and if the Lightning don’t want to keep him, he’ll be looking for a new challenge. But will the Lightning let him go? I doubt it…
If not, what about Mike Sullivan, who could leave the Penguins to join the Devils?
I’ll take it a step further: could Sheldon Keefe get that kind of money in Pittsburgh if the Leafs lose in the first round and Sullivan leaves the Penguins?
That’s a lot of questions.
But you have to ask them, because $7 million a season for a coach is a lot.
In Brief
– Enjoy your reading.
– I agree.
– !!!!
– That’s a nice run, though.
More must-reads: