Wray Morrison: Falling Leafs

Are Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock and general manager Kyle Dubas on the same page?

Last week, the Leafs lost three of four games. Two of those losses were to Chicago and Ottawa. On Monday, Babcock said that teams are “supposed to build a program so you don’t miss people,” and that “other teams have done a better job when different players are out.”

Was that a comment to management? The Toronto media is running with such comments right now.

Scrutiny would be intense in an Original Six market such as Detroit and likely less so where Babcock previously coached in Anaheim. The most intense market is Toronto, especially when the team is losing.

The headlines write themselves. “The NHL’s highest-paid coach can’t get his team to win.” Four years into a lucrative eight-year deal, it’ll be interesting to see if Babcock can get his team to win — and to see how he responds if these challenging times continue in the most intense NHL  market he has ever been in.