Saw what you will about Babcock, he was not the problem in Toronto. Dubas is in over his head and it's costing them any chance of winning consistently.
When the the second half of every back-to-back is auto loss night because they have an ECHL/AHL level goalie, that's not on the coach. That's on the guy assembling the team.
When your coach says he wants a certain style of player to get the most out of his coaching style and you give him the exact opposite, that's not on the coach. That's on the guy assembling the team.
When you spend way too much money on the top of your team, caving to a middle-six winger RFAs (Nylander) while other teams, even those in similar tax climates, get better deals on their RFAs with similar or better production (with much less fight to boot), you can't blame the coach. That's on the guy assembling the team.
That all being said, I don't think Babcock is the right coach for that group. They're very similar to the middle and early 2010s Capitals and I suspect they're going to get coaches fired much the same as that group. Often and because they think they're better than they are.
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