Three Veteran Coaches The Washington Capitals Should Consider Hiring

Mike Babcock

Now, this one is a bit sketchy. I’m saying this, personally, as someone who has called Babcock incredibly overrated. I stand by that opinion, but that doesn’t mean he is a bad coach. You can say what you want about his failures in Toronto and his late years in Detroit. Based on how those teams were built I think he did a fine job, and this Capitals team is better than those teams.

Babcock is apparently known as a no nonsense guy, we’ll talk about that being a bad thing in a minute. We’ve talked about the Caps needing a guy who can control this room, I would think he can.

I personally love his style of play as well. At least the old Red Wings style. The Capitals current breakout strategy is long passes and there doesn’t seem to be a second option. If it works you can score a bunch of goals, a lot on the rush. If it fails it leaves the defense vulnerable. The puck gets turned over and the other team comes right back at them.

The way the Red Wings used to play, at least as far as I remember is short passes with support. There is less chance of turnovers and if there is a giveaway the defense isn’t left out to dry. This Caps defense isn’t great, they need help and this style of play I think could help them.

Now for the downsides. The Maple Leafs are apparently paying Babcock a ton of money to do nothing. Sounds like fun to me. He also got a nasty dragging through the mud after he was fired from the Leafs with multiple guys that played for him calling him “a bad guy”. Babcock didn’t have the most graceful exit from Toronto.

While he has his questions now, I still think he’s a good coach. A coach capable of taking a good team far into the playoffs and even lifting Lord Stanley’s treasured chalice.