NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The Edmonton Oilers hired Mike Babcock on Tuesday, clearing the way for the polarizing taskmaster to coach his first NHL game in more than six years after the following into his .
Babcock is now in charge of trying to get Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl a Stanley Cup championship after two of the best hockey players in the league have over the past decade.
鈥淗e鈥檚 bringing experience and accountability,” Oilers CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson said at the league鈥檚 Board of Governors meeting. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we wanted on the organizational management side, and that鈥檚 what our players wanted 鈥� our leadership group 鈥� so it all aligned.鈥�
There have been complaints from former players about Babcock’s approach, including allegations of bullying. McDavid, Draisaitl and teammate Zach Hyman were consulted by management prior to bringing in Babcock, according to Jackson, who represented McDavid before .
鈥淚 think it was very important that Connor and Leon and Zach were involved and made their opinion known,” Jackson said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been in Edmonton a long time, have gone through some heartbreak together. They鈥檝e earned the right to have a voice, and we sought that and we decided. Players don鈥檛 make the ultimate decision, but I think it鈥檚 more important to be collaborative with them about communication.鈥�
The 63-year-old Babcock has not coached a game in the league since being 23 games into the 2019-20 season.
Babcock has championship experience from coaching Detroit to the Cup in 2008. He made two other trips to the final, with Anaheim in 鈥�03 and when the Red Wings went again in 鈥�09 and lost to Pittsburgh. He also guided Canada to back-to-back Olympic goal medals in 2010 and ’14.
Babcock also brings baggage.
from the Blue Jackets before training camp in September 2023 after on July 1. At the time, Babcock鈥檚 from players in an attempt to get to know them drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.
When word emerged that Edmonton was interested in hiring Babcock, the to review what happened three years ago. The NHL said it found nothing to prevent him from being employed by a team, and Commissioner Gary Bettman echoed that sentiment after the hire became official.
鈥淏ased on our investigation, we concluded there was no basis upon which he should be prohibited from coaching,” Bettman said. “His ability to coach depended on an NHL team wanting to have him coach 鈥� and that鈥檚 what Edmonton did.鈥�
Bettman said league officials looked into what was alleged to have happened with the Blue Jackets and drew conclusions as to whether they should disqualify someone from employment.
鈥淲e do 鈥� and Mr. Babcock knows it because I spoke to him 鈥� expect a certain level of decorum and conduct among all NHL personnel, especially head coaches,鈥� Bettman said.
A report surfaced after the Maple Leafs fired Babcock that he had asked star Mitch Marner to share his ranking of teammates from hardest- to least-hardest working and then shared that with the rest of the group. Former Red Wings player Johan Franzen told a Swedish outlet that Babcock was the worst person he had ever met and said at one point he was terrified to go to the rink.
Retired defenseman Mike Commodore, who played for Babcock briefly in 2011 in Detroit, spoke out this spring.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to hear another word about how important mental health is for us when you literally just paved the way, cleared the way for Mike Babcock to get another opportunity in the NHL and put him in another position of power where he can abuse people,鈥� on the 鈥淐learing the Crease鈥� podcast.
Daniel Winnik, who played for Babcock in 2015-16 with the Leafs, last week called him 鈥渢he only guy that’s ever made me hate hockey.鈥�
鈥淚 just hated coming to the rink,鈥� Winnik said on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto. “He’s just a bully.”
Asked how the Oilers remained on track to hire Babcock given the criticism, Jackson said they 鈥渄idn’t look at social media.鈥�
鈥淲e just sort of did our thing,鈥� Jackson said. “Lots of people have lots of opinions, and that鈥檚 part of our business and the fans have their opinion. We knew what we needed to do to get the coach we wanted, so we just kept sort of moving forward with our diligence and got to a point where we were comfortable.鈥�
Kris Knoblauch, who coached Edmonton to consecutive trips to the Cup final in 2024 and 鈥�25, . That decision was announced after news leaked that the Oilers had been by division rival Vegas to interview 2023 Cup-winning coach Bruce Cassidy, whom the with eight games left in the regular season. Cassidy remains under contract for one more year.
The Oilers instead turned to Babcock, whose 700 regular season and 90 playoff victories rank 12th and 10th, respectively, in NHL history.
D.J. Smith, who was most recently the interim replacement in Los Angeles after Jim Hiller was fired and ran the bench in Ottawa from 2019-23, was named an associate coach. Smith was an assistant under Babcock in Toronto.
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