Babcock admits Leafs intentionally tanked to get Auston Matthews

As Mike Babcock continues on his "redemption tour" as many are calling it, the former head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs likely raised some eyebrows Wednesday night in a lengthy interview with Sportsnet, but it wasn't for talking about his relationship with players.

"We went from making sure we finished last to get Austin Matthews, we built a program that was competitive, we set the record for regular season points," said Babcock when asked if there were things he was proud of during his time in Toronto.

Perhaps tanking is the worst kept secret in the NHL, but it sure isn't talked about publicly much, if at all. In the season prior to drafting Matthews first overall, the Maple Leafs finished dead last with 69 points. The draft lottery that year heavily favoured the last place team, with Toronto getting a 20 percent chance of drafting first overall, which they won. Patrik Laine was taken second by the Winnipeg Jets, while Pierre-Luc Dubois landed with Columbus at third overall. It's interesting to note that Toronto fired head coach Randy Carlyse in January after he posted a 21–16–3 record through 40 games. He was replaced by Peter Horachek, who finished the season with a dismal record of 9–28–5. He was replaced in the offseason by Mike Babcock. The Leafs also made a number of in-season moves, shipping out names like Dion Phaneuf, Roman Polak and James Reimer, after trading Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh before the season began.

It's possible this isn't as big of a deal as some are making it out to be. However, again, it's strange to hear someone on the inside talk about making sure a team loses in order to kick-start the rebuilding process, even if it is a common practice. The whole point of the draft lottery is to discourage teams from tanking as landing the first overall pick is never a guarantee. But, Toronto had the best chance and, given how deep the draft was, taking either of the top three picks would have certainly been helpful.

Babcock also made some other revelations during the interview, such as saying he knew when Lou Lamoriello left Toronto and was replaced as GM by Kyle Dubas that his days as coach were numbered. He also talked about his relationship with players such as Mitch Marner and Johan Franzen.

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