Mike Babcock’s arrival in Edmonton comes with a familiar kind of question hanging over it: is this just the same demanding coach getting another chance, or is there something different about the way he’s approaching this one?
The obvious read is simple enough. McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, and the rest of the leadership group reportedly wanted a coach who would push them hard and pull them out of their comfort zone.
That kind of arrangement can be dangerous. The source of the idea is clear: a talented room asks for intensity, gets it, and eventually runs into the same friction that has tripped up old-school coaches before.
The comparison to John Tortorella in Vegas is the warning sign. A hard-driving coach can win the room at first, then watch the familiar edges surface later.
But there’s another layer here that makes Babcock’s Edmonton setup more interesting than a simple “same story, new stop” narrative.
Babcock brought D.J. Smith in as associate coach, and the two worked together in Toronto.
That matters because Smith is not just another voice in the room - he’s someone who knows Babcock well enough to challenge him when it’s needed. In other words, Babcock is putting a check on himself before the season even begins, instead of waiting for problems to force the issue.
The Misha Donskov hire points in the same direction. He’s been brought in to serve as another set of eyes on Babcock himself.
That kind of move says plenty. Writers need editors.
Coaches need people around them who will tell them the truth. Leadership works better when it’s spread around, not concentrated all the way at the top.
So maybe the real question isn’t whether Babcock can be intense. Everybody already knows that part. The more interesting question is whether he’s learned enough from the past to build guardrails around his own tendencies.
If that’s what Edmonton is actually getting, then this isn’t just a team banking on Babcock’s track record. It’s a team betting that he has finally created the structure to match his talent. And if that’s true, it could be the version of Babcock nobody has seen yet.
In Other News...
Oilers Depth Gamble Suddenly Has A Real Opening To Make Noise
Eduards Tralmaks has spent a winding pro career proving he can score wherever he lands, whether that was in the Czech leagues, the NCAA or the AHL, and now the 29-year-old undrafted forward is getting a fresh look with the Oilers after signing as a free agent on July 1, 2026. He also brought that touch to Team Latvia at the Olympics, which helps explain why Edmonton was willing to add him as another depth option for a group that is always searching for usable offense beyond the stars.
The opening may be bigger than it first looked a few weeks ago, because injuries have thinned the competition among the bottom-six forwards and created a real lane for Tralmaks to press his case for NHL minutes. The one thing that has long trailed his scoring profile is skating, so the question now is whether he can do enough in camp and early-season looks to make the Oilers keep him around when the roster starts to settle. [Read more 🡒]
Connor McDavid Faces One Oilers Question That Could Shape Everything
Edmontons offseason conversation has drifted beyond the usual questions of depth and special teams and landed on a far bigger one: how Mike Babcock will handle Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at five-on-five. The pairing has obvious offensive upside, but it also sits at the center of the Oilers defensive concerns, especially with a new coach inheriting a roster that has already spent plenty of time trying to balance scoring with structure.
For McDavid, the discussion is not just about who skates beside him, but what version of his game the Oilers will get if the alignment changes. His 2016-17 numbers are part of the argument, as are the defensive and offensive trends that have followed him into the 2025-26 season, and a recent fan survey leaned toward splitting him and Draisaitl at even strength. The result is a familiar Oilers tension heading into the new season: whether a different lineup arrangement can unlock more balance, or whether the team is simply asking its best players to solve a problem that keeps coming back. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Prospect Situation Suddenly Feels Bigger Than Routine Draft Chatter
The Oilers track record with draft picks from Russia has been a mixed one over the last decade, with Edmonton cycling through several selections between 2010 and 2019 and getting only limited NHL returns from that group. That history gives extra weight to every new prospect update, especially when it comes to players whose paths to North America already carry more uncertainty than most. Maxim Berezkin remains part of that broader conversation, but the more immediate intrigue now sits with another young player whose development has started to matter in a bigger way.
Paul Fischer has drawn attention because his play has been encouraging, yet his contract situation still hangs there without a resolution. The Oilers brought him in through the August 2024 offer-sheets trade, but he still has not signed, and that leaves his long-term fit with the organization feeling less routine than draft churn usually does. For a team that has already learned how hard it can be to get talented players to stay and succeed in North America, the next step with Fischer carries a little more urgency than it might have a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]