Mike Babcock said he will make a decision on his coaching future Wednesday morning. It’s between the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, as no other team appears to be in the mix.
Here are five reasons why Babcock might pick the Sabres over the Red Wings:
1. Money: Plain and simple, the Sabres are offering much more money, perhaps $5 million a season or more for five or six years. That’s a huge bump from his current salary of $2 million and would redefine the salary structure for NHL coaches.
2. Young talent: Despite finishing with the worst record in the league in each of the past two seasons, the Sabres have a good supply of skilled, young players in their system, including 2014 No. 2 overall pick Sam Reinhart. They will likely select Jack Eichel with the second overall pick in June’s draft. That gives them two potential future star centers to build around.
3. More personnel control: Babcock has quite a bit of input in players moves with the Red Wings but might have more in Buffalo. He has a good relationship with Sabres general manager Tim Murray, the player personnel director in Anaheim when Babcock coached the Ducks from 2002-03 to 2003-04.
4. Change of scenery: Babcock has been in Detroit for 10 seasons and might feel his message is getting stale after first-round playoff defeats in three of the past four seasons. He might be seeking a new challenge.
5. Aggressive ownership: Terry Pegula, who also owns the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, made an aggressive pitch for Babcock and is committed to spending what it takes to build a winning team.
Here are five reasons why Babcock might pick the Red Wings over the Sabres:
1. Better chance to win now: Even though the Red Wings haven’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2009, they’re better-positioned to win now than Buffalo, which is facing a major rebuilding task. The Red Wings’ top players (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall) are still effective and they have a good supporting cast of younger players.
2. Family is comfortable here: Babcock has stated several times that his family wants to stay, specifically his wife, since his three kids are grown and out of the house.