Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Odds Are Improving On Mike Babcock Staying In Detroit

12/07/2014 at 9:39am EST

Ansar Khan answered a few questions regarding Mike Babcock and his contract situation...

Nothing is 100 percent. I thought it was 50-50 at the start of the season. Now, because of the way the team is playing and the positive long-term outlook, I think he'll stay.

I'm fairly certain it's not a money issue. I think he wants to be with the organization that has the best chance of winning and competing for a Stanley Cup in the next few years.

I like Detroit's outlook better than Toronto's. I'm guessing Babcock does, too.

There probably is concern that the Red Wings' best players are aging - Pavel Datsyuk is 36, Henrik Zetterberg is 34 and Niklas Kronwall is 33.

But they have a lot of young talent on the roster (Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco, Danny DeKeyser, Brendan Smith).

And they're well-stocked at each position in the system. Forwards Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin look like high-end prospects. They have five defensemen in Grand Rapids who might wind up in the NHL (Xavier Ouellet, Alexey Marchenko, Ryan Sproul, Nick Jensen and Mattias Backman). And goaltender Petr Mrazek, current in Detroit due to Jonas Gustavsson's shoulder injury, is a top talent.

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