from Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch at the Detroit Free Press,

The Blue Jackets haven’t officially announced Babcock as their new coach because they’re waiting for his contract with Toronto to expire on June 30.

That deal was an eight-year contract worth $50 million that made him the highest-paid coach in the NHL, earning an average of $6.25 million per season. It would be a surprise if his salary with the Blue Jackets approaches that annual figure, but don’t be surprised if it's in the $4-5 million a year range.

Also don’t be surprised to see Babcock push Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen to make immediate roster changes to add veteran talent over developing youngsters. He did spend one season at the helm of a bad team in Toronto, which led to the Maple Leafs winning the Auston Matthews sweepstakes in the 2016 NHL draft, but that’s not Babcock’s modus operandi.

His teams in Detroit were filled with established veterans and he pushed former Red Wings GM Ken Holland behind the scenes to sacrifice valuable assets — such as first-round picks and salary-cap space — to acquire older players.

Holland made several big mistakes along these lines, starting with a 2012 mid-season trade that sent Detroit’s first-round pick that year to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Kyle Quincey, a slow-footed defenseman. Quincey didn't do much in Detroit, but the Lightning used the pick to select goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy 19th overall....

Babcock was also the Red Wings’ coach when Holland signed veteran center Stephen Weiss in 2013 to a five-year contract worth $24.5 million. Weiss, who was 30, played parts of two injury-plagued seasons before Holland bought out the remaining three years.

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