Could Mike Babcock be a coaching option for the Edmonton Oilers?
Those sitting around waiting for the Edmonton Oilers to hire Bruce Cassidy may want to hold off on their excitement.
The Oilers have yet to talk to Cassidy, as the Vegas Golden Knights are still preventing teams from doing so. As a result, GM Stan Bowman and his staff have been exploring other options.
Last week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Oilers will be interviewing Craig Berube. There are also whispers about Peter Laviolette and even David Carle of the University of Denver. That said, few, if any, even considered a name Bob Stauffer suggested on Oilers Now this Tuesday.
“If you’re Stan Bowman, could you look at a guy like Mike Babcock?” Stauffer pondered during an interview with Brian Lawton. “Mike Babcock is not currently suspended by the National Hockey League. He’s just not coaching. We have people from Western Canada that think Babs would be the answer.
“Whatever happened in Columbus and how it ended in Toronto, there was a time in which Mike Babcock was seen unequivocally as the number one head coach in the National Hockey League.”
It should be noted that this was speculation from Stauffer rather than insight, but it’s an intriguing proposal nonetheless. After all, Babcock has plenty of winning experience. He not only led the Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup championship in 2008, but sits 12th all-time in NHL history with 700 wins behind the bench.
That said, it’s impossible to ignore Babcock’s past.
The 63-year-old has been criticized plenty by former players. Shortly after his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs ended, it was reported that he made Mitch Marner — a rookie at the time — secretly rank his teammates by hardest-working to least. After the then-19-year-old did so, Babcock then showed other players where the young star talent had them ranked.
Then there was his stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he wound up being fired before ever coaching a regular-season game for the organization. That came as a result of him asking players to see their camera rolls on their phones.
For an Oilers team that needs to get things right this coming season, hiring Babcock could wind up creating a distraction just from the blowback alone. That said, his strong resume from purely a wins-losses perspective may be enough to pique Bowman’s interest.
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