Connor McDavid may technically have the option to ask the Oilers for a trade, but this season has made that move look almost impossible to justify.
That’s the bind he created for himself by being part of the push to bring in Mike Babcock as head coach. Edmonton’s two-year, $25 million extension for McDavid already kept the door cracked open on uncertainty, but this latest chapter puts the spotlight on his own role in how the Oilers are being run.
The key detail is simple: McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman “were involved and made their opinion known” during the hiring process, according to Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson and GM Stan Bowman. Babcock said that group came to him and made it clear where they stood, telling him that if “Your not 100 percent in on Mike Babcock, Mike Babcock has no interest in being the coach.” They were in, and the hire went through.
Babcock also said the meeting with the three stars helped pull him back into coaching. He said they told him, “We have to be better, and we expect you to make us better.” That puts McDavid in a very different position than he’s been in during previous coaching changes, when he was more of a bystander than a participant.
Now he’s tied to the decision.
If Babcock’s old-school style doesn’t work, McDavid can’t point the finger only at the front office. He signed off on the move. And if Edmonton’s championship window closes after back-to-back Stanley Cup Final losses to Florida and a first-round exit to Anaheim last season, a trade request would carry a very different meaning than it would have before this offseason.
That’s why this is such a tricky spot for McDavid. He can say the team needed change.
He can say he wanted to be pushed. What he can’t really do is help choose the coach and then walk away when the plan goes sideways.
If the hire succeeds, McDavid gets to look like he helped steer Edmonton toward the right answer. If it fails, he’ll have to live with the fact that he helped bring the answer in. Either way, there’s no clean exit now.
In Other News...
Another Former Oilers First Round Pick Is Suddenly Moving Forward
Xavier Bourgaults development has taken a noticeable step forward in Ottawa, where the former first-round pick has spent most of his recent time with AHL Belleville and started to look like a player who is finding his offensive game. After arriving in the Senators organization as part of roster changes, Bourgault turned in a strong season in the minors and even earned his first taste of NHL action, a sign that his path has started to trend in the right direction.
Now the Senators have rewarded that progress with a one-year, two-way contract that keeps him in the mix for more opportunities next season. Bourgaults rise is the kind of reminder Edmonton fans know well: sometimes a prospects story does not really begin until after he leaves the organization that drafted him, and Ottawa will be watching closely to see whether this latest step leads to something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
One Oilers Roster Decision Is Still Hanging Over The Summer
One roster item is still sitting on the Oilers summer to-do list, and it has less to do with urgency than timing. Edmonton is still in negotiations with restricted free agent winger Colton Dach, but the club is clearly keeping its options open on the open market first, a familiar approach for a team trying to balance depth needs with whatever flexibility it can preserve.
Dachs situation has become one of those quiet campfire stories around the league, the kind that can linger until another move changes the math. For the Oilers, the decision is tied to the bigger picture of how they want to use their remaining room, and until that external addition is sorted out, the contract talks are set to stay in the background. [Read more 🡒]