babcock

good riddance

Mike wanted them to adapt to a heavy grinder style that waits for opponents to mess up. Today’s NHL is attack using north-south speed with d men pinching. Babcock is still looking at the late 90s early 2000s kind of hockey even though the team is not constructed to play that way.

All the talk, however it's a mess in coaching, play and management.
Coach - stubborn, old ways in coaching, will not adjust in game, did not work with Dubas et al, etc etc...
Players - overpaid, too soft, not a TEAM (circa NYR pre Cap world of 80s/90s - a bunch of 'prima donnas' getting their cookies & apples and enjoying the NY lifestyle - and sucking!).
Management - had Hall of Famers in Lou & Babcock. Now it's accountants in Dubas and Keefe good grief! (Capped out with 4 GUYS eating almost 50% of cap, one-dimensional roster, no defense, no backup netminder, too soft yadda, yadda). Finally, the #1 (conditional pick) next year is gone due to Marleau-island! Ahhhhh the hits just keep coming...

Babcock is a stubborn SOB and he thinks his way that has made him successful in the past is still the only way to win. The new NHL with the salary cap in place is far different and prospects are being called up far sooner than before because you need the ELCs to fill out the roster you can't have 2 grind lines on your team anymore to go with the 2 scoring lines. So his inability to adapt or maybe he still thinks he can be successful with the old style of coaching who knows but it was the reason he was fired. He will probably get another NHL head coaching job if he wants to keep coaching but IMO Toronto did the right thing for the team and the fans by letting him go.

To be honest, the Penguins had Crosby, Malkin and Kessel making 36% of the salary cap back in 2015-16. It can be done. The Leafs, like the Penguins fired their coach to pursue a speed system. They could get hot suddenly.