Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers seem prepared for the worst and are hoping for the best with their new head coach, Mike Babcock.
Babcock, embattled by controversy surrounding his prior stops in the NHL, is at the helm of his first Oilers training camp after the club named him the 19th head coach in their history this past June. Given his past scrutinized behavior, which included an NHL investigation ahead of his hiring, questions are being laid at the feet of Edmonton’s player leadership group, including the team’s captain, McDavid, about how they plan to handle their new bench boss.
In a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas, the three-time NHL MVP was asked directly whether he and his teammates had raised the idea of intervening if they ever thought Babcock went too far with someone on the team’s roster.
“Babs is there to be Babs and to coach the way that he sees fit,” McDavid said. “We’re also a team and teammates who care about each other. If there’s an area or a place where we have to step in, of course we’re going to do that. But we would do that with any coach. It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Babcock has been unemployed since resigning as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in September 2023, just months after his initial hiring. He already carried a tainted reputation from his time with the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs when Columbus gave him another chance, which he quickly squandered by asking players to show him photos from their cellphones almost immediately after he arrived.
The 2008 Stanley Cup-winning coach has since said he didn’t think he crossed a line with the Blue Jackets and that his wife made him resign from the team. Some of Babcock’s other notable incidents from earlier in his career include verbal assault that led former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen to dub Babcock “the worst person I have ever met,” and forcing then-rookie Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner to privately rank his teammates — then revealing the list to those teammates.
Oilers owner Daryl Katz and several members of the team’s leadership group, including superstars McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, were involved and approved Babcock’s hiring process. The controversial coach arrives after McDavid noted his belief that the organization as a whole had “taken a step back,” and Draisaitl added that he was “concerned because we’re not trending in the right direction.”
Mike Babcock yelling coaching instruction at Oilers practice via @GenePrincipe
“We pressed him on some things, and he pressed us on things,” McDavid said. “It was pretty clear that he was content with where his life was at, and he wanted to make sure that this is what we really wanted. And we wanted to make sure that he wanted to come back and work and match the level of intensity that us players have. And, obviously, both sides felt that it was a good match.”
Babcock is known to treat his star players well, but concerns have been raised about his conduct toward prior role and depth players he has coached. Daniel Winnik, who played under Babcock for part of the 2015-16 season with the Maple Leafs, recently suggested the Oilers back off from hiring Babcock, saying that “he’s the only guy that’s ever made me hate hockey.”
“He doesn’t shy away from telling you straight to your face; he’s a real man about it,” Draisaitl said last week. “We’re all men in here, and we all wanna win; we’re all here for the same reason.”
The Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division during the 2025-26 campaign but were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks.
