Will Mike Babcock Find Greener Pastures Than the Detroit Red Wings?

Mike Babcock doesn’t know how good he has it in Detroit.

That’s a literal statement, not a sarcastic one. Babcock has coached the Red Wings since 2005, and owner Mike Ilitch and general manager Ken Holland are all he knows about the inner workings of an NHL team's current front office. He coached in Anaheim from 2002-04, but that's not very helpful in 2015.

Babcock truly doesn’t know how good he has it in Detroit.

He’s going to find out. 

On Friday, the Red Wings granted permission for teams to speak with Babcock about their potential coaching openings, according Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. There are four teams with vacancies (Buffalo, Philadelphia, San Jose, Toronto) and a fifth one in Edmonton with an interim coach who will be placed in a rocket and fired to the moon if Babcock wants to ply his trade in Alberta next season.

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"People can read it into it what they want," Babcock said. "There is no decision made at all. We really like it here. My family loves Detroit. It's way easier for my family to stay here, 100% easier. My kids are all going away, but they still want to come back to Detroit on Thanksgiving. They want to come back to Detroit in the summer to work out. So it's way easier for them."

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While this courting process is ongoing, Babcock and Holland will be side by side in Prague watching the IIHF World Championships, which presents an image of awkwardness as Babcock excuses himself to take calls from Toronto area codes while Holland watches his organization’s players by himself. 

The situation also speaks to the strength of the relationship between Babcock and Holland, the latter clearly feeling confident in his organization while others fall over themselves to pluck Babcock away from him.

Coach	Team	Age	Wins
Joel Quenneville	Chicago	56	754
Ken Hitchcock	St. Louis	63	708
Lindy Ruff	Dallas	55	652
Barry Trotz	Washington	52	602
Darryl Sutter	Los Angeles	56	547
Mike Babcock	Detroit	52	527
Paul Maurice	Winnipeg	48	521
Alain Vigneault	N.Y. Rangers	53	520

But this isn’t about what Babcock can offer his suitors; it’s not as though he doesn’t have a sterling reputation as the sport’s top coach or as though these teams are unfamiliar with his work because they don’t have access to video or the Internet.

This is about Babcock familiarizing himself with the inner workings of other teams—in essence, finding out how good he has it in Detroit. Babcock also has access to video footage and the Internet, so it’s not as though he’s not aware of the talent on this team’s roster or the prospects in that team’s system.

There’s only so much a person can learn about another company without getting hours of face time with the people running it. Sure, these teams want to interview Babcock, but he wants to interview them, too. Maybe Babcock feels pretty good about a team from a distance, but maybe those feelings change if an owner is too hands-on or a GM wears those sneakers with the toe slots around the office.

Sneakers with toe slots should be a deal-breaker for anyone applying for a job anywhere. 

Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Babcock has alluded to the fact that with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg closer to retirement than their primes, the future of the Red Wings isn’t secure, which is directly related to the success Babcock and the Red Wings have had the past decade. The cupboard isn’t exactly barren, though, with Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Danny DeKeyser, Petr Mrazek and a few other young players on the roster and in the system more than enough to keep the Red Wings pushing for the playoffs after Datsyuk and Zetterberg retire.

If the Red Wings can survive after losing Nicklas Lidstrom, they can survive after losing anyone.

Since Babcock has a hall pass now, what’s he going to face during this whirlwind courtship? 

The Maple Leafs are a disaster, a team still stinking of burnt ash after it rightfully torched the roster this season. The Leafs still have matches and kerosene at the ready for some more scorching of the earth, so while there is long-term potential there, Babcock is 52, not 32.

What about the Buffalo Sabres? They are farther along in the rebuilding process and will be adding Jack Eichel at this year’s draft. The two consecutive 30th-place finishes shouldn’t scare off Babcock, as the Sabres have one of the more stocked prospect systems in the league.

The Sharks have an opening after parting ways with Todd McLellan, a former Babcock assistant, but they might be the least attractive opening of all. GM Doug Wilson’s job security is tenuous at best, and he’s been talking about a rebuild that has yet to truly begin since the end of last season.

If Detroit's blue line post-Lidstrom is a scary sight, wait until Babcock gets a look at what the Flyers have waiting for him. 

Maybe Babcock gets inside the building of one of those four teams and something changes, but Detroit appears to have a leg up on all of them.

Edmonton, on other hand, could be the greener grass we’ve all heard about. 

There’s a new, well-respected GM in the front office in Peter Chiarelli, with whom Babcock worked as a member of Team Canada’s staff for the Sochi Olympics. The Oilers have a boatload of young, talented players, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse and Justin Schultz.

Oh, and there’s that Connor McDavid kid everyone seems to think is the next Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby.

The Oilers are the definition of temptation.

Unless, of course, owner Daryl Katz is a sneakers-with-the-toes guy.

Babcock was always going to go this route. He wants to see what’s out there. He wants to raise the bar for coaches’ salaries in the league.

But most importantly, he wants to know for himself how good he has it in Detroit.

In the next two or three weeks, he will know for sure.

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.