McKenzie: Teams will ante up $1M+ per past Red Wings' offer to Babcock

Bob McKenzie was on Vancouver’s TSN 1040 on Thursday afternoon.

On Mike Babcock:

“There’s the big news of the day. The big news of the day is Mike Babcock doesn’t expect to sign a contract in-season with the Detroit Red Wings. Not 100 percent out of the question, but this sure looks like Mike Babcock intends to go to free agency.

“And I don’t think we can take anything off the table. I mean, there’s a chance Babcock signs in Detroit. There’s going to be people in Toronto that say, ‘Oh, he’s going to be a Leaf.’ Well, I’d be really surprised if Mike Babcock ever chose to become a Toronto Maple Leaf, but I don’t think you can take it off the table either.

“So I think anything and everything is going to be out there. What I do think I know is that whatever the Detroit Red Wings are prepared to give Mike Babcock, there are other organizations in the National Hockey League that are probably prepared to give him $1 million more a year than the Red Wings would.

“And I think the Red Wings most recent offer, or the one that they haven’t yet given him but they’re maybe in the process of doing, is going to be in excess of $3 million. I honestly believe there will be organizations, and maybe more than one, that will pay Mike Babcock north of $4 million a year. Between $4-5 million.

“And I think the reason why there’s so much uncertainty is we don’t even know. I mean, it really depends on who lays an egg in the first round of the playoffs and might make a coaching change as a result of that. And what you have to know is, wherever Mike Babcock ends up, if he’s got a choice between a contending team or a team that has a ways to go on that front, he’s going to probably err on the side of the contending team. Depending, again, on the financial equation that goes with it.”

Source: TSN 1040/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

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