Connor McDavid says he's ready to intervene if new Oilers coach Mike Babcock crosses a line with any teammate in Edmonton's locker room.
The Oilers captain addressed the elephant in the room directly this week, and he didn't dodge it.
Babcock arrives in Edmonton carrying baggage that would sink most coaching hires. An NHL investigation preceded his introduction as the franchise's 19th head coach back in June.
McDavid isn't pretending that history doesn't exist. He's just choosing to trust the process, with conditions attached.
"Babs is there to be Babs and to coach the way that he sees fit," McDavid said. "If there's an area or a place where we have to step in, of course we're going to do that. But we would do that with any coach."
That's not a full endorsement. It's closer to a warning shot, dressed up in captain's diplomacy.
Babcock hasn't coached an NHL game since walking away from the Columbus Blue Jackets in September 2023, months after taking that job. Before Columbus, his stints in Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto left scars that followed him west.
Draisaitl breaks his silence on the Babcock hire
Leon Draisaitl, McDavid's running mate and the team's other superstar, didn't hide behind vague language either.
"He doesn't shy away from telling you straight to your face, he's a real man about it," Draisaitl said last week. "We're all men in here, and we all wanna win."
The Oilers looked sharp behind the bench in their tuneup, beating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Saturday night. McDavid scored a goal and added an assist in that one, finishing plus-4 with four shots on goal.
He logged that production in under 12 minutes of ice time, hardly a full workload this early in camp.
Edmonton finished second in the Pacific Division a season ago before Anaheim ended their run in the first round. That exit is part of why ownership and the leadership group signed off on a coach this polarizing in the first place.
Daniel Winnik, who played under Babcock in Toronto, recently said Babcock is "the only guy that's ever made me hate hockey." That's the kind of quote that doesn't just fade into camp noise.
Stan Bowman runs the front office that approved this hire, and Babcock is set for his first full training camp behind Edmonton's bench since taking over in June.
The Oilers wrap their exhibition slate and open the regular season on the road, and every early practice report out of Edmonton will now get read through a different lens. Whether Babcock's old habits show up again, or stay buried, is the story that follows this team into October.
-
Should the Oilers have hired Mike Babcock given his track record?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Jim Hiller reveals real bad news hours after split-squad losses
