Edmonton Oilers coach Babcock was very blunt with McDavid and Draisaitl
Mike Babcock is not afraid to get confrontational with Edmonton Oilers superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The 63-year-old coach has built a reputation for being hard on players and making controversial decisions behind the bench. Bringing on Babcock raised eyebrows around the league, but comments from the Oilers’ star players indicated that this team needed the coaching staff to challenge them more.
Babcock is set to do that, and more details on his meeting with McDavid and Draisaitl prior to getting hired have revealed how he will go about it. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Oilers’ new coach will start at the top of the roster.
“They basically admitted it, that Babcock challenged [McDavid and Draisaitl] and said, ‘You guys are as much the problem,'” Friedman said on the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. “I thought reading McDavid’s quote to Mark Spector, this team was really off the rails at the end of last year.
“I think it’s going to be a really fascinating dynamic, because if they want to be challenged, they’ve got a guy who’s not gonna be afraid to challenge them.”
For years, it has appeared that McDavid and Draisaitl have been able to call the shots no matter which coach they’ve had. That makes sense to a degree, as they are two of the best players in the world and are the heartbeat of the Oilers’ offence.
That dynamic, however, hasn’t led to a Stanley Cup championship, and it sounds like the superstars are ready for things to shift. One area that Friedman mentioned that could ruffle some feathers is how Babcock deploys the power play.
“When it’s a power play in the third period, and Babcock sends out the second unit, I think we’re all gonna watch and say, ‘How’s this all gonna go?'” Friedman said. “That’s why [Babcock] is there.”
Edmonton has long held one of the best power play units in the NHL, and Babcock’s potential interruption of the usual process could rub some of the Oilers’ top players the wrong way. It will be interesting to see how that plays out throughout the upcoming season.
Hiring Babcock was as controversial a choice as the Oilers could have landed on for head coach, but it’s hard to criticize it too much when players like McDavid and Draisaitl have already gotten a sneak peek at his harsh style.
The real test will be how it translates on the ice.