Maple Leafs' Babcock insists he's not tanking

Mike Babcock wants to make one thing clear: the Toronto Maple Leafs aren't intentionally losing games.

“If you think that I’m not trying to get these guys to play as hard as they can possibly play, you’re missing the boat,” Babcock told reporters after practice Wednesday, according to Terry Koshan of The Toronto Sun.

“They give me a group and I do everything I can to help that team win. We go through how are we going to win."

The Leafs have lost four straight games, and seven of their last eight. Only the Edmonton Oilers have a worse record, and both teams have a league-low 50 points.

"We know what we’re doing, we know what our plan is, we know what we are trying to do long term, and I think we have been diligent about doing that," Babcock said. "We are working hard to try to get players better.”

General manager Lou Lamoriello has begun gutting the roster ahead of the Feb. 29 trade deadline, sending Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in a nine-player swap, trading forward Shawn Matthias to the Colorado Avalanche, and dealing defenseman Roman Polak and forward Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks.

Babcock believes the transaction involving his former captain will ultimately benefit both teams.

"Were we a better team when we had Dion Phaneuf? Yes," he said. "Is it a good trade for Ottawa right now? Yes. Is it going to be a good trade for the Leafs? Yes. That’s what a trade is. It’s good for both of you. Trading (Polak) - is that a good trade for the Leafs? Absolutely. Do we miss (him)? For sure.

"That’s black and white. There is no grey area. You don’t have to surmise anything. That’s the plan.”

That plan is seemingly focused on the future, no matter how hard the current players and their head coach work to win now.