Zach Hyman just gave Mike Babcock the public backing Edmonton badly needed.
That is the real development here. In the report you shared, Hyman told TSN's Ryan Rishaug that Babcock never crossed the line with him in Toronto, and that he only learned about the Mitch Marner episode well after it happened.
That lands hard because Babcock was only just named Edmonton's 19th head coach, and the reaction to his return has been tied almost entirely to old baggage.
Hyman's voice carries more weight than most on this roster. NHL.com reported he was part of the Oilers leadership group that met Babcock before the hire was finalized, alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
He also knows the coach better than most of that room. Hyman joined Toronto in June 2015, the same stretch when Babcock took over the Maple Leafs bench, so this is not secondhand support from a distance.
And this is not a fringe player speaking up. Hyman finished 2025-26 with 31 goals and 52 points in 58 games, which makes him one of the loudest respected voices Edmonton has.
Zach Hyman just broke his silence on the Mike Babcock hiring
That is where this gets interesting. The Marner story still hangs over Babcock because Sportsnet reported years ago that Babcock admitted the rookie-list incident with Mitch Marner “ended up not being a good idea.”
The Columbus mess still hangs there too. Before Edmonton hired him, the NHL reviewed Babcock's conduct and said there was no current basis to restrict his employment, while the NHLPA still called the Blue Jackets situation concerning.
So Hyman's defence does not wipe the slate clean. What it does is give the Oilers something they could not manufacture on their own: a current core player saying his own experience with Babcock was different.
That matters because Babcock himself said he would not take the job unless McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman were fully in on him. Edmonton did not hire him without checking that room first.
It also explains why Hyman's words matter more than an old résumé. The Oilers already know Babcock has a Stanley Cup and a long coaching track. What they needed was proof that their room could live with him now.
Hyman just gave them part of that proof. Not all of it, because the real judgment comes once camp opens, but enough to shift the conversation from pure controversy to actual buy-in inside the locker room.
And for Edmonton, that may be the biggest part of this whole story. Mike Babcock did not only need a contract. He needed a player like Zach Hyman to stand beside the hire, and now he has it.
Does Zach Hyman's support make the Mike Babcock hire easier to accept?
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