Forgive Maple Leafs fans for having Mike Babcock on the brain. Best coach available, desperate team, supply and demand and all that.
But there's another executive position available — general manager. Last week we learned there are at least four candidates on the Leafs' wish list.
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Leafs president Brendan Shanahan cleaned house at season's end in preparation for a gut rehab. So the chicken-and-egg question became whether Shanahan would hire a GM who fills his requirements before a coach was hired.
Concurrently, Babcock received permission to talk with other teams after 10 successful seasons with the Red Wings. Lights went on in Toronto, where there was more speculation than information and fact about the Leafs' interest in Babcock.
What we learned last week was this: Babcock remains open to staying with the Red Wings and will talk with other teams before making a decision by May 20. Everything else is clear as mud.
How that impacts the Leafs is this: There's time to woo (cha-ching) Babcock to take (cha-ching) the job at Air Canada Centre (cha-ching).
The Leafs likely prefer Babs to Todd McLellan, his former assistant who was a success with the Sharks except in the playoffs. Getting to the playoffs is a challenge for the Leafs, but McLellan is believed ready to join the Oilers after he finishes coaching Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships in Prague.
Babcock met with Shanahan at the worlds, but the Leafs were believed to be a long shot in the Babcock derby.
Side note: The Red Wings will get a third-round pick from the team that hires Babs. Considering the circumstances, it's worth the price. Babcock is expected to get more than $4 million per year in his next coaching contract, and possibly $5 million. The Leafs can handle the dollars, if they can get an autograph.
Three teams are in on Babcock: the Sabres, with whom he already met; the Leafs and the Wings.
As for the GM candidates, here's the short list:
— George McPhee, former Capitals general manager.
— Michael Futa, Kings vice president of hockey operations and director of player personnel.
— Jeff Gorton, assistant to Rangers GM Glen Sather.
— Julien BriseBois, assistant to Lightning GM Steve Yzerman.
McPhee is the only known commodity. Observers see the other three as up-and-coming hockey men.
There's heavy speculation about Gorton's availability. Sather is 72, and the school of thought is Slats will retire if the Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
One way or another, the Rangers might not let Gorton go. They've already refused to let the Bruins talk to him about their GM job, according to the New York Post.
In its look at Gorton, The Toronto Star found plenty to like about the guy. Gorton, as Boston's interim GM prior to Peter Chiarelli taking over in 2006, essentially built the foundation for the Bruins' Stanley Cup teams.