Mike Babcock admits he 'absolutely' made mistakes during time as Leafs coach

When the Columbus Blue Jackets hired Mike Babcock, they didn’t just get a big-name coach, they also gambled on a bench boss with serious baggage.

It remains to be seen if Babcock walks the walk when it comes to changing as a coach and a person, but he’s at least saying the right things about learning from his lower moments with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, the latter of whom fired him in 2019.

While Babcock didn’t specifically reference strange mind games with Mitch Marner in Toronto, accusations of bullying Red Wings winger Johan Franzen, or other incidents that tarnished his image, he did own up to some missteps in a recent interview with Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

"All the time I was in Toronto I enjoyed it," Babcock said on Thursday. "Do I like the way I was talked about when I left? No. Do I think I did anything wrong? Absolutely."

Babcock called his three-and-a-half-year hiatus from NHL coaching “a gift from God” because he not only got a chance to spend more time with his family, but also to realize there are areas where he must “improve.”

"I'm not trying to hide from anything I've ever done," Babcock said. "I think it's important you own any mistake you've made, and you try to get better."

Blue Jackets present a fascinating challenge for Babcock

The end of Babcock’s Maple Leafs reign meant his next NHL head coaching job was going to be an intriguing story. Even by those standards, Babcock and the Blue Jackets make for an interesting mix.

On one hand, recent renditions of the Blue Jackets set the bar so low that Babcock could look like a genius through relative improvements. Last season, they were astonishingly bad at just about every level, especially when it came to defending their own zone. (Hint: seeing a lot of red in your own zone is a bad sign for a Hockey Viz heat map.)

While last season was extreme, there were red flags that a slightly-better-than-expected 2021-22 Blue Jackets team was a bit of a mirage.

Injuries to key players such as Patrik Laine (55 games played) and Zach Werenski (13) exaggerated flaws, and the Blue Jackets rarely got many saves last season, so it’s possible Babcock could get some credit for improvements that would have happened by default. There’s not really anywhere to go but up for a team that ranked 30th in goals for and 31st in goals against.

However, there’s room for this to fall apart spectacularly, too.

Think of the types of players Babcock generally admires: gritty two-way players. The Blue Jackets boast some talent, yet few seem like prototypical “Babcock guys.” Both Johnny Gaudreau and Werenski are “net-positive” players, but neither distinguish themselves with lockdown defense. On his best day, Laine’s a player whose scoring makes up for his defensive weaknesses.

Stylistically, you’d think 2023 second-overall pick Adam Fantilli would be the sort of power forward who would appeal to Babcock. Old-school coaches often reflexively distrust younger players, though, inspiring some concerns about the sort of growing pains that could hinder development.

The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline got word that Babcock hopes to have one or even two “200-foot players” on each line, which seems like a lofty dream for a roster this deeply flawed. Sprinkle in rumors of Laine playing at center (a broadly more defensive-minded position), and the red flags sprout up.

Perhaps the instinct would be to label this a “work in progress,” but this is an expensive Blue Jackets team. Considering general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has already been in place for more than a decade, there may not be much patience for growing pains.

Hiring a coach with baggage like Babcock seemed sweaty and desperate, so time will tell if this seemingly new-and-improved version of the veteran coach will actually last.