What Will the Mike Babcock, Edmonton Oilers Era Look Like?

If you’re interested in attending the biggest circus in the NHL, head to northern Alberta to check out the new-look, yet dogmatic, Edmonton Oilers. 

With the Oilers hiring Mike Babcock as the franchise’s 19th head coach, that contradiction sums up their latest attempt to hit pay dirt. 

The Oilers and their star players don’t care about the noise surrounding bringing Babcock aboard. They care only about winning a Stanley Cup, but is the ostracized coach the answer?

Will Mike Babcock Get the Best Out of the Oilers?

Babcock hasn’t coached in the NHL since being let go by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019. 

There is, of course, his fleeting and infamous moment in Columbus, which saw him dismissed before coaching a game for the Blue Jackets. 

The Oilers wouldn’t have hired Babcock without the full approval of the team’s star players. 

I wrote a piece about why Connor McDavid endorses Babcot’s hiring, and those reasons will form the bedrock of the Babcock era in Edmonton.

Zach Hyman, who played under Babcock in Toronto, must have been one of Babcock’s biggest advocates. 

If Babcock’s introductory press conference is anything to go by, he has not changed. But I suppose that uncompromising mantra is what the Oilers want from their new bench boss. 

McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Hyman, and Co. demand more from their talented team. They yearn for accountability and defensive structure, the latter of which went completely AWOL last season.

They’re guaranteed both with Babcock, who is quick to jump on any player not pulling their weight. 

One could argue that a lack of a stingy defensive structure and accountability were the difference between the Oilers being consistently among the Stanley Cup odds favourites at the BetMGM online sportsbook and winning the Cup. 

Then again, one could just as easily argue that they didn’t have the personnel to win, too often let down by the most important position on the ice, goaltending. 

New Coaching Staff Could Work In the Short Term

The Oilers hired D.J. Smith to join Babcock as an associate coach. Smith and Babcock worked together in Toronto, which was Smith’s first stint as an NHL coach. 

Last season, Smith worked as an associate coach in Los Angeles before taking the interim head coach role following the Kings’ firing of Jim Hiller.  

The Oilers have the narrowest win-now window in the league, dictated by McDavid having two years left on his cut-rate contract. 

Without him, there is no hope. 

In previous jobs, Babcock has motivated, inspired, and elicited the best from his teams in the early stages of his tenure. The Oilers are banking on that initial kickstart. 

Through a tighter structure, clearly defined roles, and a heightened sense of accountability, Babcock will demand more from each individual and the collective. 

However, his my-way-or-the-highway coaching style comes with a best-by date. His dictatorial character can quickly shift from having a galvanizing effect to an alienating one. 

McDavid and the rest of the leadership group know the inherent risks, and they’re keen to proceed anyway. Call it desperation, call it motivation. 

However you phrase it, the Oilers understand acutely that this project will likely have a short shelf life. Considering the Oilers have had 11 coaches since 2008-09, that doesn’t concern owner Daryl Allan Katz.

The only thing he and general manager Stan Bowman have on their minds is winning a Stanley Cup in the next two years. 

With the Oilers’ players wide open and aware of what to expect, the desperate act could be crazy enough to work. That outcome, however, is predicated on landing a top-tier goaltender. 

If they don’t end their 36-year barren Cup run, expect an unparalleled amount of upheaval, starting with McDavid’s departure.