At the start of Monday, there were three head coaching jobs open in the NHL. One of those jobs was filled, as the Los Angeles Kings hired Peter Laviolette. That leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers without coaches. With Laviolette not an option, the Oilers have been rumored to be interested in Mike Babcock.
Now, there is reporting that Oilers superstar Connor McDavid may also be involved in the process, according to Oilers insider Bob Stauffer.
“As we have seen in the other Major Professional Leagues one would have to be somewhat naive not to think your most important assets (players) are not at least part of the process in major organizational moves,” Stauffer posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The involvement of McDavid may be important for two reasons. The first being the future of the star forward himself. Earlier in the 2025-26 season, McDavid signed a two-year contract extension with the team. The fact that he signed for just two years has been seen as signaling that the Oilers need to find a way to win the Cup to keep McDavid.
The second is the history of Babcock himself. Babcock was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, but would resign before ever coaching a game. Allegations that he went through the photos on players’ phones surfaced, and the NHLPA revealed that multiple players were not comfortable with the situation. This led to his quick resignation from the team.
There has also been a history of Babcock clashing with players, as former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri pointed out in his book, according to Kyle Cantlon of Yahoo.
“Babs was really into the psychological aspects of performance. He’d been a psychology major at McGill University, a fact that everyone seemed to know. As I’ve said, he was interested in ways to motivate players, to get the most out of them by knowing what buttons to press, what games to play. All that kind of stuff,” Kadri wrote in his book. “But over a long period of time, that can wear on you, and so these kids of coaches often have a shelf life. Obviously, there was some benefit because Babs had a lot of success. He was a brilliant coach. But again, his tactics could also backfire. And with players having changed so much over the past decade, there’s no longer a place in the league for mind games like that.”
If the Oilers think a coach like Babcock can help the team, it is worth exploring, but not at the risk of alienating the start of the franchise, meaning McDavid needs to give his blessing.
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