Oilers Name Mike Babcock As Head Coach
According to a team announcement, Mike Babcock has been named as the Oilers’ 19th head coach in team history.
Babcock, 63, has a 700-418-183 regular-season coaching record over 17 NHL seasons and 1,301 games. Through another 164 games in 14 postseason appearances, he ranks 10th all-time in wins with a 90-74 record.
A few days ago, the NHL finished its investigation into any wrongdoing during Babcock’s time with the Blue Jackets. According to an announcement, Babcock has been cleared to join the Oilers, saying, “The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith. Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League.”
His coaching successes are highlighted by his tenure with the Mighty Ducks, leading them to a 40-27-15 regular season record and a 15-6 postseason run to claim a Western Conference title, and the Detroit Red Wings to a Stanley Cup win in 2008. He’s also won an Olympic gold medal twice (2010, 2014), an IIHF World Championship (2004), and a World Cup of Hockey title (2016). He is the only coach in hockey history to have won all four of those triumphs.
Despite his tremendous success, Babcock has had many blemishes in his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets, thanks to multiple scandals.
A major part of this began during his time with the Red Wings. In 2019, former Red Wing Johan Franzen called Babcock “the worst person I’ve ever met” in an interview with Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios added to that saying Babcock verbally abused Franzen to the point of the latter suffering a nervous breakdown. Along with this, during the 2010-11 season, Babcock made Mike Modano a healthy scratch on multiple occasions at the end of the season, causing the legend to finish one game shy of 1,500 games played.
Then there is the Mitch Marner incident. A year into an eight-year, $50MM contract with the Maple Leafs, Babcock asked Marner, who was a rookie at the time, to rank his teammates from first to last in work ethic, putting Marner in a weird position just days into his pro career. The details of this incident didn’t come out until Babcock was fired by the Maple Leafs in 2019.
Then, before he coached a single game for the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was revealed on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast by host Paul Bissonnette that Babcock had approached multiple players, including captain Boone Jenner, asking them to share personal photos and displaying them for the rest of the team to see on certain occasions. Babcock resigned from his role a few days later.
There was curiosity around how this would impact the team’s composition, especially the future of Connor McDavid. According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Babcock already met with Edmonton’s leaders in the locker room. Per Rishaug, the players gave the Oilers’ front office their full support to hire Babcock earlier in June.
Edmonton also hired D.J. Smith as an associate. The 49-year-old replaced Jim Hiller, who was fired on March 1st of this year by the LA Kings. Smith went 11-6-6 as interim coach of the Kings. He was also the Ottawa Senators Head Coach from 2019 until he was fired in the middle of the 2023-24 season.
Babcock will be McDavid’s sixth NHL head coach since the Oilers drafted him in 2015. He is entering the first season of a two-year, $25MM ($12.5MM AAV) contract he signed on October 6th, 2025. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2028.
The Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division in 2025-26 with a 41-30-11 record and lost in the First Round in six games to the Anaheim Ducks after previously reaching the Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, losing to the Florida Panthers both times.
Photo Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Oilers Cleared To Hire Mike Babcock After Investigation
June 18th: Less than two weeks later, the NHL has finished its investigation into any and all wrongdoing during Babcock’s time with the Blue Jackets. According to an announcement, Babcock has been cleared to join the Oilers, saying, “The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith. Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League.”
June 8th: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Edmonton Oilers are consulting with the NHLPA to see if any objections need to be resolved if they were to hire Mike Babcock as their next head coach. Edmonton’s inquiry to the NHLPA about a potential investigation suggests their interest in Babcock is quite serious.
Dreger later added that if an investigation is warranted, the NHL would manage it. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun added that if the Oilers were to hire Babcock, former Los Angeles Kings interim head coach D.J. Smith would likely join his staff.
There are a lot of “ifs” to work through, but it would obviously be one of the most controversial coaching hires in recent memory if Edmonton were to hire Babcock. Despite his tremendous success with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Detroit Red Wings, Babcock has experienced unceremonious endings to his tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets, thanks to multiple scandals.
A significant part of this began during his time with the Red Wings. In 2019, former Red Wing Johan Franzen called Babcock “the worst person I’ve ever met” in an interview with Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios added that Babcock verbally abused Franzen to the point of the latter suffering a nervous breakdown. Additionally, during the 2010-11 season, Babcock made Mike Modano a healthy scratch on multiple occasions at the end of the season, causing the legend to finish one game shy of 1,500 games played.
Then came the Mitch Marner incident. A year into an eight-year, $50MM contract with the Maple Leafs, Babcock asked Marner, who was a rookie at the time, to rank his teammates from first to last in work ethic. The stunt understandably angered the team, putting Marner in an awkward position just days into his professional career. The details of this incident wouldn’t come out until Babcock was fired by the Maple Leafs in 2019.
Babcock became radioactive after the news broke. Coupled with the controversies throughout his time in Detroit, no player was keen on playing for Babcock, and no team was willing to give him another opportunity. Still, under the assumption that time heals all wounds, the Blue Jackets became the first team to offer him an opportunity in 2023.
However, Babcock would finish his time with the Blue Jackets without coaching a single game. Originally shared on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, host Paul Bissonnette revealed that Babcock had approached multiple players, including captain Boone Jenner, asking them to share personal photos and sometimes displaying them for the rest of the team to see. Babcock resigned from his role a few days later.
Since then, although Babcock has appeared in rumblings here and there, none have been as serious as the Oilers’ current attempts. In late May, Babcock told Dreger that he considers himself retired, but obviously, Edmonton has gotten his attention one way or another.
West Notes: Stars, Larkin, Babcock
A few days ago, the Dallas Stars submitted a non-binding letter of intent to the Plano City Council, proposing a new entertainment district and stadium nearly 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. According to a new article from the Sports Business Journal, the Stars faced no adversity in the vote, with the Plano City Council unanimously supporting the proposal while offering up to $700MM in public funding.
Given that the proposal is non-binding, the Stars aren’t necessarily locked into moving to Plano, but today’s vote demonstrates that the interest goes both ways. Dallas’ ownership indicated that the stadium itself would cost around $1B, while the mixed-use district would cost around $3B, all things considered.
The Stars are locked into their lease at American Airlines Center until the 2030-31 season, so a new stadium would still be at least five years away, regardless. The city of Dallas remains in contact with the Stars to extend their lease, or keep the team downtown at the very least, but all signs indicate the Stars may be following their fans to the suburbs.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Despite being one of the three teams that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin would accept a trade to, it’s not that simple for the Minnesota Wild. In a new article, Joe Smith of The Athletic opined that the Wild are a logical landing spot for Minnesota, but questioned if the Wild had the necessary assets to pull it off. Smith speculated that Minnesota would make Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel available, but they have exhausted many of their high-value trade assets from acquiring Quinn Hughes this past season.
- After yesterday’s report indicating that the Edmonton Oilers have zeroed in on Mike Babcock as their next head coach, many questioned how this would affect the team’s leadership, particularly the future of Connor McDavid. According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Babcock has already met with Edmonton’s player leadership, which would obviously include McDavid among others. Per Rishaug, the players gave the Oilers’ front office their full support to hire Babcock if possible.
Russia Notes: Babcock, Gallant, Tortorella, Kuznetsov, Obvintsev
The KHL’s Kunlun Red Star is making an aggressive push to land a high-profile name as its next head coach. They’ve made attempts to land longtime NHL coaches Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, and John Tortorella this summer, reports Dmitry Erykalov of Sport24.ru.
While legally based in Beijing, Kunlun hasn’t played in China since the pandemic. They’ve operated out of a Moscow suburb called Mystichi in recent years but will now play out of St. Petersburg’s SKA Arena, the largest area in the world built for hockey at a capacity of 22,500. Just a few years old, SKA St. Petersburg played part of last season there but will move back to its old venue for 2025-26 due to underwhelming attendance and “low transport accessibility.”
Erykalov writes that Kunlun has also appointed former Avangard Omsk chairman Alexander Krylov to a hockey operations role ahead of the 2025-26 campaign; he previously approached Babcock about Omsk’s vacancy in 2022. Of the three, Erykalov relays that Gallant would be the most realistic hire for the fledgling club as he’s told KHL clubs he “would not mind working” in Russia. That tracks after he wasn’t firmly connected to any NHL coaching vacancies this offseason.
Kunlun has long been irrelevant in the grand scheme of KHL play, especially with the goal of directly supporting professional hockey in China seemingly abandoned post-Olympics and pandemic. The club made the KHL playoffs in its first season back in 2016-17 but hasn’t since. Their 19-34-9-6 record last season was its best in five years, though.
Other notes from Russia:
- Earlier today, we relayed word that the Canadiens wouldn’t be offering center Evgeny Kuznetsov a contract as he attempts an NHL return despite speculation otherwise. His agent also said to rule out a return to the Capitals, where he spent the vast majority of the first stint of his time in North America. “I don’t see how he could go back,” Shumi Babaev said, after Kuznetsov’s tenure in Washington ended on the waiver wire before being dealt to the Hurricanes for a mid-round pick at the 2023 trade deadline. Kuznetsov, whose 568 points in 723 games rank seventh in Caps franchise history, had 37 points in 39 KHL games last season for SKA in his first season at home in over a decade.
- Maple Leafs goaltending prospect Timofei Obvintsev has signed a one-year deal with Gornyak-UGMK of the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league, the league announced. A 2024 fifth-round pick, Obvintsev saw just 11 games of action in Russia’s top junior league last season with CSKA Moscow’s affiliate club, posting a 2.78 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout, and a 6-4-0 record. The 20-year-old could be in line for a move to North America next season if he impresses in the pro ranks.