Mike Babcock did not walk into a quiet job in Edmonton. Two games into the season, the Oilers have already handed him enough material to fill a week of postgame scolding, and then some. He was brought in to bring structure and accountability to a team that has too often leaned on its offense to cover the cracks, and the early returns have looked exactly like the kind of chaos that was supposed to be cleaned up.
The first night set the tone. Edmonton lost 6-5 in overtime and Babcock called it “ridiculous.”
That game came with turnovers, long shifts, soft coverage, and six goals against, even with Evan Bouchard piling up five points. The Oilers had enough firepower to make it a wild one, but not enough discipline to finish it off.
Thursday in Vancouver somehow topped that. Edmonton stormed out to an 8-2 lead and still had to sweat through a 9-7 win.
Connor McDavid finished with five points, and the stars did what stars do. But once the first 40 minutes were over, the whole thing started to wobble.
Babcock said he liked the opening stretch. After that, the familiar problems showed up again: the defensive structure disappeared, the goaltending was shaky, and the Oilers nearly gave away a game they had already run away from.
That leaves Edmonton with three points out of four, which looks fine on paper. On the ice, it has been pure bedlam.
The Canucks, messy as they were, at least kept fighting. The Oilers looked like a team that can overwhelm opponents when the talent is humming, then leak chances the moment the details slip.
That’s the exact habit Babcock was hired to break. Long shifts.
Soft work in the defensive zone. The old “we’ll just outscore them” routine.
Instead, the early version of this team has doubled down on it. Babcock already used “ridiculous” once, and after the second game he was talking about “tons of examples” of where they need to improve.
At this pace, he may be out of voice before the road trip gets rolling.
Maybe the yelling changes something. Maybe the structure takes hold.
Right now, though, there’s no sign the new coach has tamed the Oilers yet. What there is, unmistakably, is an Edmonton team that is still very much Edmonton - dangerous, explosive, and just a little bit unhinged.
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The crease change comes amid a longer injury shuffle for Edmonton, with Tristan Jarry having struggled and Frederik Andersen sidelined, while the forward group is also taking hits. Zach Hyman will miss the game, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been moved to injured reserve, forcing the Oilers to call up Josh Samanski from the AHL to help fill out the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Huge Night Still Left Fans Worried About One Problem
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Oilers Suddenly Have A Real Chance To Test Josh Samanski
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Now, the Oilers suddenly have a real opening to see what Samanski can handle under pressure. An emergency recall put him back on the NHL roster because of injuries, giving Edmonton a chance to evaluate whether his blend of size, structure and limited offense can hold up against bigger responsibilities. For a team always searching for affordable depth down the middle, his ability to survive this stretch may tell them a lot about how quickly he can move from promising call-up to something more permanent. [Read more 🡒]