St. James: Blashill's future hinging on Babcock choice

Jeff Blashill's short-term vision is coaching the Grand Rapids Griffins to a second championship in three years. His long-term vision is set on the NHL.

With the countdown on for Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock to make his decision about where he will work -- it will come this week -- the clock also is ticking on Blashill. He left an assistant position with the Wings three years ago to take over Detroit's AHL club, the Grand Rapids Griffins, and the success he has had there will translate into an NHL head coaching position someday.

That may soon happen. Babcock has talked with Toronto and Buffalo, with the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks also expressing interest in making him their head coach. This afternoon, Babcock told the Free Press that he and general manager Ken Holland will meet Tuesday. The Wings have offered Babcock four years at $3.25 million annually. Babcock is believed to be looking for at least $4 million per year.

If Babcock doesn't stay, Blashill will be the leading candidate to replace him. Holland said as much when he announced that the Wings were granting Babcock permission to speak to other NHL clubs prior to the June 30 expiration of his contract.

Blashill spoke to the Free Press on Friday about where he is and where he wants to go.

"My ultimate goal is to be head coach in the NHL someday," he said. "But the most important thing is that what you are doing currently, you do the best you can. Opportunities come as they come."

In other words, Blashill, 41, is keeping his focus on the Griffins, who have advanced to the Western Conference finals. Two years ago, Blashill finished his rookie season with the Griffins with a Calder Cup championship. Many of the players who were on that team -- Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Landon Ferraro, Riley Sheahan, Luke Glendening and Danny DeKeyser -- are now in Detroit. Next season, Teemu Pulkkinen will join the list.

That title played into the contract Blashill got last year, when he signed a three-year deal. The Wings had underlying motive, too -- it was a way of tying Blashill to the Wings in case Babcock leaves.

"I know that I work for an organization that values me, and the contract last year was proof of that," Blashill said. "In reverse, I value working for them. I know how lucky I am to work for organization with the long-term success they've had. I've been fortunate to coach a group of real good prospects. It's been a great experience, and I will continue to enjoy it here."

Blashill made the decision to take the Griffins job, even as it meant going from the cushiness of the NHL to the pedestrian AHL, because he viewed it as the best path for his career. He had been the head coach for one year at Western Michigan before leaving college for the Wings.

"When I took the assistant coaching job with Mike Babcock," Blashill said, "I had said that I wanted to eventually be an NHL head coach. I knew that, to do that, at some point, I needed to be and wanted to go to the AHL to be a head coach. It happened quicker than I thought it would. But I knew that would be the next stop."

Blashill described his time with the Griffins as "an unbelievable three years." He speaks weekly to Babcock, a symbiotic relationship that feeds Babcock insights about prospects and that Blashill has used to learn and grow as a coach.

When the Wings needed to fill the void left when legendary coach Scotty Bowman retired in 2002, they went with assistant Dave Lewis. That lasted two years. When Babcock decided he didn't want to stay at his job in Anaheim, the Wings pounced. That was 10 years ago.

Should Babcock find a suitor irresistible -- Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who also owns the NFL's Buffalo Bills, reportedly gave Rex Ryan north of $5 million annually to coach the Bills -- the Wings will take a look at who is available. That might not include a guy they like, Todd McLellan, as he reportedly is close to joining the Edmonton Oilers. The list might feature Ken Hitchcock, though, if the Blues end up with Babcock.

While there are more NHL-experienced coaches for hire, going in that direction almost certainly would mean losing Blashill. Holland has said he isn't giving interested NHL teams permission to talk to Blashill right now, and that's because the Wings don't want him leaving the organization in case Babcock does.

If Babcock stays -- and he repeatedly has called the Wings coaching job the best there is -- it's a safe bet that, one of these days, Blashill will be coaching another NHL team.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.