good riddance

Mike wanted them to adapt to a heavy grinder style that waits for opponents to mess up. Today’s NHL is attack using north-south speed with d men pinching. Babcock is still looking at the late 90s early 2000s kind of hockey even though the team is not constructed to play that way.

All the talk, however it's a mess in coaching, play and management.
Coach - stubborn, old ways in coaching, will not adjust in game, did not work with Dubas et al, etc etc...
Players - overpaid, too soft, not a TEAM (circa NYR pre Cap world of 80s/90s - a bunch of 'prima donnas' getting their cookies & apples and enjoying the NY lifestyle - and sucking!).
Management - had Hall of Famers in Lou & Babcock. Now it's accountants in Dubas and Keefe good grief! (Capped out with 4 GUYS eating almost 50% of cap, one-dimensional roster, no defense, no backup netminder, too soft yadda, yadda). Finally, the #1 (conditional pick) next year is gone due to Marleau-island! Ahhhhh the hits just keep coming...

Babcock is a stubborn SOB and he thinks his way that has made him successful in the past is still the only way to win. The new NHL with the salary cap in place is far different and prospects are being called up far sooner than before because you need the ELCs to fill out the roster you can't have 2 grind lines on your team anymore to go with the 2 scoring lines. So his inability to adapt or maybe he still thinks he can be successful with the old style of coaching who knows but it was the reason he was fired. He will probably get another NHL head coaching job if he wants to keep coaching but IMO Toronto did the right thing for the team and the fans by letting him go.

To be honest, the Penguins had Crosby, Malkin and Kessel making 36% of the salary cap back in 2015-16. It can be done. The Leafs, like the Penguins fired their coach to pursue a speed system. They could get hot suddenly.

Those are some harsh words for someone who guided your team to a cup. You're not wrong though.

For sure we won't know until they play the games. No one saw the Blues run right....
The BUT, to me and my 'house-money $$', is on the lottery pick happening way before any Lord Stanley with this team construction and management.

When the only guy who regularly plays defense behind the blue line is Jake Muzzin, that isn't Mike Babcock's fault, but he is to blame for a lot of Toronto's other shortcomings. I think that making the move to Keefe is the right one, but Maple Leafs fans shouldn't expect an immediate turnaround until Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci become more comfortable with their surroundings and more successful at their jobs.

Weren't meant to be that harsh but the game has changed. Believe it or not when he left my attitude was are we going to be able to get a better coach than Babcock. I don't know about Blashill but he was handed to keys to a sinking ship and Yzerman likes Cooper and Blashill and Cooper are very very similar coaches. I've heard rumors that Larkin would've stayed at Michigan instead of playing for Babcock but since I have no source its just a rumor.

Well, it takes time for change to be effective. Look at the Penguins, when they first fired Mike Johnston. Sullivan lost the first 4 games in a row by blowouts and people already wanted him gone. To be honest the team didn't start getting hot until the final 2 months of the season when HBK got put together.

No doubt Larkin disliked Babcock, those two want totally different styles.

Crosby-Malkin-Kessel-Letang-Fleury/Murray (I think?)...several previous cup winning players listed to the immediate left that undertook the "turn-around" you speak of.
Tavares-Matthews-Marner-Nylander-Riley-Anderson...no cup's. butkus. other than the 'jock' kind in their pockets...I don't see the turnaround sorry cause they ain't no Penguins or Blues or Bruins or Hawks or...

Plus even before the Toronto job opened up there was talk about him retiring.