Mike Babcock isn’t walking into Edmonton with a soft touch, and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl already know it.
The Oilers’ new coach has long carried a reputation for being demanding, blunt and more than willing to push players out of their comfort zone. That approach was part of the conversation when Edmonton brought him in, and according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Babcock made his message clear before he was even hired.
On the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said Babcock went right at the top of the roster.
“They basically admitted it, that Babcock challenged [McDavid and Draisaitl] and said, ‘You guys are as much the problem,'” Friedman said. “I thought reading McDavid’s quote to Mark Spector, this team was really off the rails at the end of last year.
“I think it’s going to be a really fascinating dynamic, because if they want to be challenged, they’ve got a guy who’s not gonna be afraid to challenge them.”
That kind of directness is exactly why Babcock’s arrival turned heads around the league. It also lines up with the sense that Edmonton’s stars wanted more push from the coaching staff. McDavid and Draisaitl have often been able to steer the ship under previous coaches, which makes sense given how central they are to the Oilers’ offense and how elite they are as players.
But that setup has not delivered a Stanley Cup championship, and the feeling now is that the stars are open to a different kind of voice.
One area that could become especially interesting is the power play. Friedman pointed to a scenario that could create real tension if Babcock chooses to shake up the usual script.
“When it’s a power play in the third period, and Babcock sends out the second unit, I think we’re all gonna watch and say, ‘How’s this all gonna go?'” Friedman said. “That’s why [Babcock] is there.”
Edmonton has long had one of the NHL’s most dangerous power plays, so any disruption to that familiar order could land hard with the team’s biggest names. Still, that’s the point of bringing in a coach with Babcock’s profile.
The hire was always going to be controversial. But if McDavid and Draisaitl really wanted to be challenged, they’ve already gotten a preview of what that looks like. The only question now is how it shows up once the games start.
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