Of course the Maple Leafs overpaid for Mike Babcock.

Well, maybe until now.

They didn’t need a $6 million-a-year head coach two years ago when they had the worst lineup in the league, but it was the summer of 2015 when he was available, so that’s when they had to hire him.

Babcock did the best coaching job in the league last season, although John Tortorella was recognized with the Jack Adams Award. The Leafs became an exciting team to watch, went from finishing 30th to making the playoffs on the last weekend of the season with a rookie-laden lineup, and gave the Washington Capitals a scare in the first round of the playoffs.

It was a major step forward. But if you know the history of Toronto hockey, particularly the more recent chapters, you know this is the point where things start to go awry.

Historically, it has been after a blip of success that ownership gets distracted, or management abandons the plan and tries to overreach, thinking it can accelerate the process of winning. As well, it hasn’t taken much for players to feel satisfied with themselves. A 15-goal scorer in Toronto is treated like an all-star if he’s seen in public. Top-end players battle with overexposure, and start looking to blame outside influences — fan pressure, the media —when things don’t go well.

It’s not an attitudinal issue exclusive to the Leafs, but it seems exaggerated here.

That’s why this is the season when the essentially un-fireable Babcock really needs to earn his paycheque. This is a season already strewn with obvious landmines as a promising young team seeks to become a quality contender.

This fall is already significantly different than last fall. As the Leafs headed to training camp last September, the Blue Jays were making a hard push for their second consecutive playoff berth, drawing 45,000-plus a night to the Rogers Centre and attracting massive television audiences. The World Cup of Hockey, the first since 2006, was being held in Toronto.

The Raptors, coming off their historic first visit to the NBA’s Eastern Conference final, were at the highest point of popularity in franchise history. The Grey Cup was scheduled for BMO Field in November, and the world junior hockey championship was set to include games at the Air Canada Centre in December.

All that activity provided superb cover for a Leafs team that had finished 30th the previous season. Even the attention that was paid to them had to do with peripheral matters like the team’s 100th anniversary celebrations and a new logo.

Auston Matthews wasn’t even with the Leafs for most of September as he skated with Team North America in the World Cup. It was unclear whether Mitch Marner would crack the roster, and William Nylander’s strong work in the American Hockey League hadn’t immediately been repeated in the NHL at the end of the 2015-16 season, so it was unknown what his impact might be.

Expectations were extremely low, and Babcock, as accurately noted by an envious Paul Maurice later in the season, made sure they stayed low. As the team gradually emerged as more than competitive, the response was accordingly positive from the city and the hockey world in general. Sports fans love a nice surprise.

GM Lou Lamoriello and Babcock did their level best to keep Matthews, Marner and Nylander protected from overexposure while trying to make all three understand the team game and defensive responsibilities that needed to go along with their offensive escapades. Remember, all three knew Phil Kessel had been allowed to essentially just play offence during his time in Toronto, and that Nazem Kadri had chafed when a 200-foot game and off-ice discipline had been demanded of him.

Well, everybody got through the season without a major problem. Kadri flourished under Babcock. Freddie Andersen solidified the crease. Matthews won the Calder, Marner made the NHL all-rookie team and Nylander might have as well if not for Patrik Laine.

But now a new season of much higher expectations looms and there’s no helpful cover. There’s no World Cup, no upcoming Grey Cup, no world juniors, no Jays playoff run and a more muted anticipation of the Raptors season ahead.

The Leafs are about to truly take centre stage in this city, and the hope is that this team’s high-end youngsters will be able to handle all that’s going to be coming at them. Well, it’s up to Babcock to make sure they do.

This is the year when Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Morgan Rielly et al need to consistently demonstrate that a commitment to a total team game is now a must if you want to get regular ice time with this hockey club. Draft pick Carl Grundstrom arrives from Sweden, ostensibly to skate for the Marlies. He needs to see the correct attitude from those young players already with the big club. Timothy Liljegren, the team’s top pick last June, needs to get the right message early and often.

Patrick Marleau arrives, turning 38 on Sept. 15, and there are few more consistent, committed players in the league than Marleau. But it’s Babcock, with Lamoriello’s backing, who needs to lay the hammer down early and often with this group of youngsters, some of whom will have spent the summer months being told how great they are by friends, family and well-wishers.

Maybe they’ve diligently gone about their off-season workout regimen, maybe they haven’t. It’s not easy to stay focussed while being adored. The subject of the millions of dollars that await Matthews, Marner and Nylander, meanwhile, is already a constant subject of discussion, and who could blame those young men if they are convinced goals will get them that money more than backchecking or shot-blocking.

It would be a mistake to assume the Leafs will just pick up where they left off. The consistent energy they brought to the rink last season was largely the product of a lot of youngsters thrilled to be in the big leagues, and now those players have to find that nightly motivation some other way.

Zach Hyman, to cite one example, was a relentless ball of energy every night on the No. 1 line beside Matthews. Now he has a $9-million contract in his hip pocket that many doubted he’d ever have as a fifth-round draft pick. How does he react to success and wealth?

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Babcock, as we know, got $50 million not just to get the Leafs to playoffs in his second season. Randy Carlyle did that. Babcock got paid to build something that lasts. He got the money to build the same type of culture he was part of in Detroit, a place where stars thrive and also backcheck like hell.

The guess here is this season he’ll have to be more taskmaster than father figure to keep this going in the right direction.

Damien Cox is the co-host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. He spent nearly 30 years covering a variety of sports for The Star. Follow him @DamoSpin. His column appears Tuesday and Saturday.

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