McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman ready to change way they play to win Cup, Babcock says 

EDMONTON -- Mike Babcock does not have the luxury of easing into his new role as Edmonton Oilers coach.

Despite not having been on an NHL bench since he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs 23 games into the 2019-20 season, the Oilers are not only expecting immediate results, they are on the clock.  

The pressure to win the Stanley Cup now is high with captain Connor McDavid going into the first season of a two-year, $25 million contract and the possibility of him becoming a free agent on July 1, 2028 looming.

Fortunately for Babcock, he has the full support of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the Oilers core to make whatever changes necessary to win.

That includes adjusting the roles of the two star players, which he outlined in a meeting with them along with forward Zach Hyman prior to being hired by Edmonton. 

That meeting is what convinced Babcock to come out of retirement and take the role.  

“The interaction with star players who want nothing more than to win and tell you how they’re willing to change and adjust to make that happen, that’s pretty exciting for a coach,” Babcock said during his introductory press conference on Tuesday. “I went through in detail the changes that would have to be made for us to have success when it mattered. And when they said they were all in, the next step was to get together with ownership.”

Edmonton is hoping Babcock is able to succeed where many other coaches have fallen short. 

He is the Oilers’ sixth coach since McDavid was selected by Edmonton with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Draisaitl, who was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, is playing for his eighth coach.  

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 selection in the 2011 draft, will be playing for his 10th coach in Edmonton. 

Babcock replaces Kris Knoblauch, who was fired May 14. He took the Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games in 2024 and losing in six games last season. The Oilers were eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round this season, and Knoblauch was gone. 

General manager Stan Bowman said the pressure to win the Cup has always been there, no matter McDavid’s contract situation. 

“I’ve been asked that question maybe from the first day I started about being on the clock, so I don’t know how much more on the clock we are now than we were two years ago,” Bowman said. “No, I don’t think anything changes. Mike commented about how bad those guys want to win. That’s the kind of the common (thread) throughout this whole thing, is we’re doing everything we can to give our team the best chance to win. And when you win, guys typically want to continue to win. That’s our objective and that’s not going to change.”

Many coaches have tried to get this core over the top. Knoblauch was preceded by Jay Woodcroft, Dave Tippett, Ken Hitchcock, and Todd McLellan, who all had McDavid and Draisaitl. 

“Those are all real good coaches (Tippett, Hitchcock, and McLellan) and I know them all real well and they would have done their thing here. I wasn’t here and I don’t know what happened,” Babcock said. “All I know is the conversation I had with these gentlemen (McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman) and I just talked to them again yesterday, and they know exactly what’s expected and we’re going to make sure that happens.”

Babcock said D.J. Smith was brought in as associate coach to help him bridge the gap between his coaching tenures. The two worked together for four seasons in Toronto.

Babcock was due to make a comeback with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24, but resigned before even coaching a game on Sept. 18, 2023, five days after the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast reported he asked players to share personal photos on their private mobile devices. 

The situation was investigated by the NHL Players’ Association before Babcock, who was hired July 1, 2023, announced his resignation.

The NHL recently looked into the allegations when it became evident Edmonton was pursuing Babcock and allowed him to return.

He comes to Edmonton with an impressive resume, ranked 12th in regular-season wins (700), and eighth in playoff wins (90) in NHL history. 

Babcock won the Stanley Cup with Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and went to the Final the following season, losing in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also took the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to Game 7 of the Final against the New Jersey Devils in his first season as an NHL coach in 2003. 

He said star players sometimes have to sacrifice offense for a team to be successful. 

“I don’t know if you ever heard of this guy named Steve Yzerman, he played in the League for a long, long, time, scored tons and tons of points and then a gentleman named Scotty Bowman came in there and he didn’t score quite as many points but won three Stanley Cups,” Babcock said. “Stevie is a good friend of mine he would tell you in a second, he would rather win the Cups. 

“We’re not asking him (McDavid) to score less, we’re asking him to do things right to make everyone else on the team important and play in a different way in some details of the game. I’ve walked through this in detail with them. They say they’re in.”  

Babcock coached Canada to an IIHF World Junior championship (1997), an IIHF World Championship (2004), back-to-back Olympic gold medals (2010, 2014) and victory at the World Cup of Hockey (2016). 

The Oilers are hoping he can add to that championship pedigree in Edmonton. 

“We have to do whatever is best for the team on a daily basis, that’s what we’re going to do,” Babcock said. “We want the fans of the Oilers to be beyond proud. It doesn’t matter what I say here, it matters what we do going ahead. 

“The reality is that’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to make everybody more inclusive and everybody more important. At the same time, those guys are going to be huge players in it, but they’re the ones asking for this. Sometimes when you’re 18 you don’t think like that, but when you want to win a championship, that’s how you start thinking.”