A new coach always brings a new set of priorities, and the Oilers have already seen what that can look like when Todd McLellan took over in 2015-16.
One of the players McLellan took issue with was Mark Fayne. Fayne, the story goes, gave up the blue line instead of standing his ground and forcing the shoot-in, because he had to cheat to get back and retrieve the puck.
His slower boots effectively ended his NHL career just over one season after McLellan arrived in Edmonton. McLellan preferred Kris Russell, even on his off side.
Fayne, as the source puts it, was a good defenseman. Honest.
McLellan still trusted Fayne in tough spots. He used him against elites for 390 five-on-five minutes, according to Puck IQ, which made Fayne the top right-hander on the club in minutes versus elite competition. But the coach did not like what he saw, and Fayne spent most of the following season in the minors.
That’s the kind of pattern coaches tend to repeat when they’re trying to win enough games to keep their jobs. They lean into the traits they believe matter most. For Babcock, that means keeping the puck out of the net and making sure enough bodies are skating in the right direction defensively.
McLellan moved quickly on Griffin Reinhart for similar reasons, while giving Oscar Klefbom an immediate boost. Reinhart and Klefbom played about the same number of games that season, but McLellan handled them differently.
The five-on-five numbers versus elites reflected that split. Reinhart did get a chance, and those were impressive minutes versus elite opponents for a young player, but McLellan wasn’t interested in waiting around.
He also had better options than Reinhart.
Apply that same logic to Babcock, and the picture gets clearer. The expectation is that injured players will fade, with Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm the most likely to be affected.
Veterans should get the edge over younger players, even if the veterans aren’t at their best. But if Babcock sees a Klefbom-type player, he’ll play him.
There’s also a sense that he’ll want more urgency when it comes to moving the puck. Evan Bouchard, for all his talent, may get pushed on situational awareness and peripheral vision.
Jake Walman could end up playing fewer than 40 games if his foot speed is low. Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Shea could log heavy minutes at even strength and on the penalty kill.
If Babcock gets a look at them in camp, Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey are candidates for recall.
Babcock has never coached the Oilers, but McLellan’s decade-old approach offers a useful template. The expectation is for quick, decisive calls across the roster, plenty of churn, and, inevitably, complaints about loyalty to veterans who are struggling.
Still, the guiding idea is simple: if he has a young Klefbom, he’ll play him. Pretty sure.
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