Draisaitl wants Oilers to find 'A-game' under new coach Babcock

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl expects the Edmonton Oilers to better positioned for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season coming off a first-round elimination.

The Oilers forward feels that with a lengthy offseason, Mike Babcock taking over as coach and a better understanding of the importance of the regular season, 2026-27 will be more of a springboard into the postseason.

“I think we just have to understand this is where you build your game for Game (85) and on,” Draisaitl said Thursday after an informal team skate. “Winning environments and these winning streaks and exactly knowing what the perfect game for you as a team looks like, you have to create that over the (84) games.”

After going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025 and losing to the Florida Panthers both times, the Oilers struggled to gain traction last season. 

Edmonton did not win three consecutive games until Jan. 24-29 and its only other extended winning streak was five games, from March 24 to April 2. The Oilers limped into the playoffs having lost four of their final six games (2-2-2) and were upset by the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference First Round, losing the best-of-7 series in six games. 

“I don’t think that we ever figured out what our A-game really was,” Draisaitl said. “On top of that, we weren’t able to sustain it and that’s going to be our No. 1 task this season.”

The Oilers (41-30-11) finished second in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and one ahead of the Ducks. 

Draisaitl missed the last 14 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury sustained in a 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators on March 15 and was not at 100 percent at the start of the playoffs, when he had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in six games.

Forward Connor McDavid sustained an ankle injury in Game 2 against Anaheim and was also not fully healthy for the rest of the series. He finished with six points (one goal, five assists) in six postseason games.

The Oilers were never able to flip the switch last season, and Draisaitl said the energy expended on the two runs to the Final may have caught up with them. 

“I’m sure that’s always a factor,” he said. “We played a lot of hockey over the last couple of years, and you could see it with the Panthers a little bit too, injuries start to creep in. Certainly, it was a factor, injuries didn’t help us late in the season and maybe this summer came at the right time for us.”

Florida missed the playoffs last season after its back-to-back Cup wins. 

Draisaitl and McDavid are both healthy going into training camp next week and refreshed after a long summer. 

“You’re able to really work on your cardio,” Draisaitl said of having a longer offseason. “When you have six weeks or seven weeks to get your cardio back up and running, there’s just not enough time really. When you have four months, you can ramp it up and you can properly plan out your summer and map out your summer and not just go on the fly as it comes. 

“Short summers are a great sign. We want more short summers, but this one might have come at the right time.”

With Babcock as coach, the Oilers are looking to challenge for the top spot in the Pacific and take another run at the Stanley Cup. The 63-year-old came out of retirement to coach Edmonton, replacing Kris Knoblauch, after an initial meeting with McDavid, Draisaitl and forward Zach Hyman. 

Babcock, who ranks 12th in NHL history with 700 wins, has not coached in the League since he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs 23 games into the 2019-20 season. 

McDavid is hoping Babcock can bring more structure and continuity to the lineup.

“It always kind of shifts throughout the year, you know how it goes,” McDavid, the Edmonton captain, said Wednesday. “I think this year we would like a little bit more stability, if that’s possible. With that being said, we understand it’s always kind of a moving target throughout the year and different situations require different lineups and different formations and stuff, but that’s the coach’s problem.”

McDavid led the NHL with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) in 82 games last season, winning the Art Ross Trophy for the sixth time as the League’s top offensive player and the Ted Lindsay Award for the fifth time as the most outstanding player as voted by his peers. 

Draisaitl was ninth with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 65 games. 

“I think that I do expect a little bit more (continuity) this year,” Draisaitl said, “but I do expect, with the way our team is built, we will always have the shuffle going on a little bit. Maybe we’ll have it less, but that’s more of a coaching question probably than anything. We’ll see what ‘Babs’ and the coaching staff has in mind.”