I hope I'm wrong, but it seems pretty close to a foregone conclusion that he'll go to Edmonton. Babcocks' key criteria are: 1) setting a new bar by which coaches salaries will be measured; 2) cementing his legacy by winning with a new organization.
Edmonton and Buffalo are the only organizations that can offer both. (St. Louis and San Jose offer the chance to win sooner, but neither will be willing nor able to pay what he's going to command).
The Buffalo situation has less of a stink than Edmonton, obviously, but with Nicholson, Chiarelli, and McDavid, that pig is wearing some pretty attractive lipstick at the moment -- all the more so, given the Hockey Canada connections. The latter is the one thing Buffalo can't match.
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