Mike Babcock returns to the NHL as the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets #Mike #Babcock #returns #NHL #coach #Columbus #Blue #Jackets

Mike Babcock is back in the NHL as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, joining them Saturday after a stint of almost four years out of a pro job.

The 2008 Stanley Cup winner returns following the end of his lengthy contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who fired Babcock early in his fifth season with them in 2019.

Columbus decided early last month to hire Babcock but had to wait until July to make it official because of the significant money still owed to him on the $50 million, eight-year deal he signed with Toronto in 2015.

Tampa Bay Lightning's Alex Killorn (17) skates with the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, March 5, 2023. Recent Stanley Cup champions Alex Killorn, J.T. Compher and Ivan Barbashev are among the top players to watch when NHL free agency begins Saturday. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker, File)

A flat salary cap combined with a lack of high-profile players hitting the market could make the start of the NHL’s free agent signing period more of a dud on Saturday.

Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers General Manager, speaks during a news conference at the NHL hockey team's arena, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have traded Ivan Provorov, sending away the defenseman who boycotted the team’s Pride night as part of a three-team trade that included the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Los Angeles Kings.

FILE - Canada's Connor Bedard, left, skates past Austria's Lukas Horl, right, and Luca Auer during the second period of a world junior hockey championships game Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The NHL draft lottery is drawn, determining which team gets the chance to select Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick. The Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks have the highest odds of landing the most anticipated top pick since Connor McDavid in 2015. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Los Angeles Kings goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) stops a shot during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rarely does a team go into the Stanley Cup playoffs with a pair of goaltenders who weren’t on the opening night roster.

Babcock, who also made trips to the Cup Final with Anaheim in 2003 and Detroit in 2009 and guided Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014, gives the Blue Jackets an accomplished veteran behind the bench to oversee their attempt to become a contender again in the Eastern Conference.

Columbus has missed the playoffs each of the past three seasons after making it four years in a row under now-Philadelphia coach John Tortorella. The Blue Jackets finished tied for the second-fewest points in the league this past season and selected Adam Fantilli with the third pick in the draft.

They fired coach Brad Larsen in April after two seasons in that role, the second of which was derailed by injuries after Columbus signed top free agent Johnny Gaudreau last summer and looked poised to take a step forward. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen is now counting on Babcock to do that.

Once considered the best hockey coach in the world — and paid like it by the Leafs — Babcock saw his reputation take a hit when stories emerged about some of his polarizing old-school techniques.

Longtime Detroit forward Johan Franzen in 2019 called Babcock the “worst person” he has ever met, and former teammate Chris Chelios said Babcock berated Franzen in 2012 to the point of a nervous breakdown. Maple Leafs All-Star center Mitch Marner said during his rookie year that Babcock made him rank his teammates from hardest- to least-hardest working and shared that with a couple of the teammates near the bottom.

When Babcock was fired in November 2019, retired defenseman Mike Commodore ripped into his onetime coach in a tirade on social media.

“Simply put your players quit on you,” Commodore tweeted. “They quit on you because you are a terrible human being. You are an average coach with an extremely oversized ego. You finally got exactly what you deserve … . The hockey world is ecstatic.”

Babcock spent time as senior adviser for the University of Vermont’s men’s hockey team before returning home to his native Western Canadian provide to coach the University of Saskatchewan in 2021-22.

Now 60, Babcock will be in his fourth NHL job after stints in Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto.