We associate Mike Babcock with big games. He has coached Canada to two Olympic gold medals. He guided them to a World Cup title before this season. He frequents the biggest stages in hockey.
But in a conversation we had this past July, he revealed that he was really starting to miss the learning opportunities that come as a coach when you coach in the biggest games of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“You get to know the great players in the game when you coach the great teams,” Babcock said.
From the outside at the time, he looked just about as far from those big NHL games as you could possibly be. The Toronto Maple Leafs had just grabbed Auston Matthews with the No. 1 overall pick, a reward for finishing at the bottom of the standings. An offseason power ranking had them last going into the 2016-17 season.
Babcock noticed.
“We’re dead last,” he said. “I love it.”
It was almost like he knew something the rest of us didn’t about his team, about the kid center on the way to join him in Toronto. He exudes confidence anyway, like telling everyone in Washington that he’d see them again in Game 7, but his quiet optimism about the season ahead wasn’t shared too frequently outside of Toronto.
He said he wanted to make a long run in the playoffs, get current again with the greatest players in the game on the NHL’s biggest stage.
How long did he think he needed before his Leafs would be ready to go on an extended playoff run?
“Two more years,” he said.
Two years for the team that finished dead last in the league?
“Yeah,” he said.
Even in the world of Babcock’s relentless optimism, that seemed pretty ambitious. Not anymore.
Year 1 is in the books, and by the time Marcus Johansson scored in overtime to move the Capitals into the second round, we’d all long forgotten how much of a long shot it was considered before the season for the Maple Leafs to even make the playoffs. They not only belonged, they played like a team that could keep on playing if it somehow found a way to get past the giant Capitals.
Now the challenge for the Leafs becomes riding the momentum rather than expecting it to just happen next year. We see it often -- a good, young team makes the playoffs and then takes a step backward the following season, missing the playoffs completely. The Jets, Islanders, Stars and Flames have all done it in recent years. But this is where Babcock excels. Nobody will enter next season satisfied with this season’s accomplishments. He’s great at casting a vision and providing the daily instructions necessary to grind the way there.
No doubt, that vision will be lofty next season.
Nine other takeaways from the weekend of NHL action:
2. Dubas, Hunter on the move?
Internally, the Maple Leafs know there will be a day when teams will start invading the front office and chipping away at the successful group Brendan Shanahan has assembled since taking over in Toronto.
It might be a little early in the process, but assistant GMs Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas could be the first beneficiaries of the Maple Leafs' playoff success. They each bring a unique skill set to the table, but also have benefited from the experience that comes with being surrounded by guys like Babcock, GM Lou Lamoriello and Shanahan. Those two certainly should be on the watch list for the Buffalo Sabres.
3. Marner call was critical
Yes, Matthews was a huge part of the rebuild. They probably aren’t pushing the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs without him, even with Patrik Laine on the roster. That’s the impact a franchise centerman can have. But an underrated part of the process was the 2015 draft when the Maple Leafs grabbed Mitch Marner instead of Noah Hanifin at No. 4. There was risk because of Marner’s size, but the early returns so far for both players suggest the Maple Leafs made the right choice.
Carolina did OK later, though. The Maple Leafs took Travis Dermott at No. 34. The Hurricanes snatched up Sebastian Aho with the next pick.
4. Would they rather have Werenski?
The fun debate came three picks after the Hanifin pick in the first round, where defenseman Zach Werenski went to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Based on the needs of the Maple Leafs, and how much they could use a defenseman like Werenski to get to the next level, that’s probably the better pick at No. 4, even with Marner looking like a special player. Tough call.
5. Crawford's role in developing Matthews
The impact of Marc Crawford on Matthews’ easy transition to the NHL shouldn’t be lost. Matthews credited Crawford for helping round out his game defensively while playing for him in Switzerland during the 2015-16 season.
“Playing over here, you’re forced to play defense,” Matthews said when we chatted during the middle of his season in Switzerland. “It can be tough at times. I remember one game, [Crawford] yelled at me, I lost my guy and they ended up scoring. That’s when I realized I need to start learning.”
6. Crawford's next step
The groundwork Crawford laid in rounding out Matthews’ game could absolutely been seen in this playoff series. Nobody in television does a better job of in-game analysis than Ray Ferraro, and on Sunday, he compared Matthews’ pursuit of the puck to Pavel Datsyuk's. That’s high praise -- and also completely accurate.
It’s a little early to speculate whether or not Crawford could be a fit for a team like Florida that needs a head coach, but his hand in developing both Matthews and teaming up with Guy Boucher to guide the Ottawa Senators to the second round of the playoffs has been noticed around the league.
7. Oilers' second line will be crucial against the Ducks
The Corsica Hockey line combo analytics tool is one of my favorite things to look at during the postseason. The Matthews line exits the playoffs with a first-round Corsi for percentage of 62.1 percent, which was tops in the league. Great series for those guys.
But it’s the line at No. 2 that is more relevant moving forward. The trio centered by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, with Jordan Eberle and Milan Lucic on the wings, controlled 60.3 percent of the even-strength shot attempts in Round 1 against the San Jose Sharks.
If Ryan Kesler is able to shut down Connor McDavid, or at least limit him as effectively as San Jose did, it’s on the shoulders of that line to make up the difference. Their success against San Jose suggests they’re capable.
8. Edmonton's D nothing to scoff at, either
The defensive pairing with the best possession numbers still playing? It’s Edmonton again, with Adam Larsson and Oscar Klefbom controlling 58.5 percent of the even-strength shot attempts against San Jose.
This is not going to be an easy series for the Ducks.
9. Looking ahead to June 23
Good news for fans of teams more interested in the coming draft than the playoffs. The draft has gotten lukewarm (at best) reviews from scouts around the league, but one executive returned from the under-18 World Championships in Slovakia feeling pretty good about the young talent.
“This is a depth draft. A lot of good depth players,” he said. “It’s going to be a good draft. There’s a lot of good defensemen.”
10. Praise for Hischier
The main knock on this year's draft class is at the top, where there doesn’t appear to be a franchise-altering player. But Halifax’s Nico Hischier really seems to be winning people over.
He had six points in five games for Switzerland in this tournament, coming off a season for Halifax in which he had 86 points in 57 games for the Mooseheads.
“I wasn’t on the bandwagon for the first half of the season, but he’s the real deal,” said the executive. “He’s not going to be [Connor] McDavid, but someone is going to get a really good player.”