Mike Babcock doesn't walk into a new locker room with a clean slate anymore. Between the Mitch Marner ranking saga in Toronto, Nazem Kadri's memoir allegations, and the aborted Columbus stint that got him investigated by the NHL before Edmonton could even finalize the hire, Babcock's baggage was going to be the first thing every Oiler had to deal with. So when Chris Johnston reported for The Athletic that Babcock sat down face to face with the team's biggest stars before ever coaching a game, that meeting was never going to be a formality.
New, for @TheAthletic: Inside the meeting where Mike Babcock won over the Oilers stars, and why Leon Draisaitl believes it's the right time for Babcock in Edmonton 🔗⬇️ https://t.co/8VKwzGBeeo
According to reporting around that meeting, Babcock didn't try to smooth things over or dodge the history — he reportedly told Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl directly that their own leadership was part of why this Oilers core hasn't finished the job, and neither superstar pushed back. That's not exactly the warm-and-fuzzy introduction most new coaches lead with, but it lines up with everything Babcock's career says about him: he holds people accountable whether they like it or not, and apparently that landed.
Draisaitl's public read on it says a lot. He's called it "very important" to get Babcock's history off the table before the season starts, and praised him for being straight with the group rather than tiptoeing around the elephant in the room. For a guy who's been to the doorstep of a Cup and come up short more than once, hearing a coach say the accountability starts at the top — including with him — is apparently exactly what Draisaitl wanted to hear.
That's the bet Edmonton is making here. This isn't a rebuild hiring a coach to develop kids — it's a win-now franchise with McDavid and Draisaitl in their primes handing the keys to a guy whose old locker rooms have a documented history of blowing up on him. If the stars are buying in this early, that's the best-case scenario for a hire that came with this much risk attached.
The real test isn't a summer meeting, though — it's whether that accountability message survives a losing streak in December or a bad power-play stretch in a playoff series. Babcock's past blowups didn't happen on day one either. For now, Edmonton gets to bank Draisaitl's endorsement and move on to training camp with its two best players publicly on board.