Jamie Nye: Is Babcock the problem in Toronto?

Four years ago, Mike Babcock arrived in Toronto and you’d think the Maple Leafs won the coaching Stanley Cup.

Fast forward to present day and you’d think Babcock is one of the worst coaches in the NHL.

Media and fans are looking for a change behind the bench after a third straight season losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Babcock took over a rebuild team and the build is still happening. Yes, John Tavares was supposed to put the Leafs over the hump but Babcock can’t control Jake Gardiner’s Game 7 brain farts and Freddie Andersen also blowing it when it matters most.

But we’ve seen Toronto chew up and spit out great coaches before.

Is there a better coach out there? General manager Kyle Dubas hired Sheldon Keefe as his head coach in junior hockey. Then Dubas brought Keefe to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. You don’t have to be much of a deep thinker to believe Dubas would want to promote Keefe to the NHL at some point before someone else hires him.

However, I have a hard time buying a different coach would have helped the Leafs get much farther than what we’ve seen from Mike Babcock.