Under what circumstances would an NHL team trade its best player in season?



The question arose this week as the sky was falling in two fiercely unhappy Canadian markets – Toronto and Calgary – where the early-season results didn’t come close to matching the sky-high expectations that both the Maple Leafs and the Flames had going into the season.



The primary difference?



In Toronto, the focus was almost squarely on coaching – and whether Mike Babcock’s style and tactics were the right approaches, given the Leafs’ personnel. On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs answered the question for us. They didn’t think so either.



Babcock, the highest-paid coach in NHL history, will now have a new distinction – the highest-paid unemployed coach in NHL history. If Babcock wants to, he can – for the rest of this year and for three more years after that – earn more money NOT to coach in the NHL than anyone still...