Mike Babcock on extension: 'We'll either get it done by fall or wait 'til the season is over'

The Detroit Red Wings have seen a steady outflow of coaching talent over the years - from Todd McLellan of the San Jose Sharks, to Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators, to Bill Peters of the Carolina Hurricanes. This week, the Red Wings organization is reportedly set to lose another talented veteran coach, with associate coach Tom Renney set to takeover as the president of Hockey Canada. 

All of those losses are a sideshow in comparison with the ongoing contract negotiations between the Red Wings and current head coach Mike Babcock. Babcock is a superstar coach and surely the consensus pick for the best hockey coach in the world. 

Having led Team Canada to a second consecutive Olympic gold medal, then presiding over a late surge that powered an injured Red Wings team to a surprise playoff berth in 2014 - Babcock has just completed arguably his finest season as a head coach. His contract expires after this season though, at which point he'll become - considering the anemic 2015 unrestricted free agent class - maybe the most sought after free agent in hockey next summer. 

The last we heard of negotiations between the Red Wings and Babcock, the two sides were set to start serious negotiations in earnest in June. On Monday, Babcock provided an update of sorts, suggesting that he'd be unwilling to continue negotiating in-season:

"You're talking about a guy who is one of, if not the best coach in the national hockey league," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said of Babcock in late May. "Mike's got charisma, he's a fabulous coach... He gets results, and he has his teams well prepared, and he's got a lot of passion among some other good qualities."

Among NHL head coaches who have coached at least 500 games in their career, Babcock has the third highest all-time points percentage behind only Scotty Bowman and Toe Blake.