Unfortunately, Babcock was always coming back. He just needed a team desperate enough to hire him
It turns out the NHL does believe in third chances.
TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger reported Monday that the Edmonton Oilers are interested in hiring Mike Babcock, nearly three years after he parted ways with the Columbus Blue Jackets after he was accused of allegedly invading the privacy of younger players, notably asking to look through pictures on their phones.
Dreger reported the Oilers were consulting with the NHL Players’ Association to see if there were any issues that needed to be resolved regarding Babcock’s time in Columbus before moving forward, adding that if an investigation was required to move forward, the NHL would manage it.
Dreger confirmed the NHLPA declined to comment.
If it’s determined an investigation is required to move forward, sources say the NHL would manage it. At this stage, the NHLPA has declined to comment.
Sources: The Edmtn Oilers are consulting with the NHLPA to see if there are objections that must be resolved before potentially hiring Mike Babcock. Amid allegations of invading players privacy, Babcock resigned in CBJ as Head Coach in 2023. Further investigation may be required.
Later on Monday, Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer said if the league signed off on it, “Mike Babcock will be the next coach of the Edmonton Oilers. It’s inevitable.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported late Monday night Babcock had spoken directly with Oilers owner Daryl Katz, and that he had “met with or spoken to several members of the team’s leadership group,” and that “whatever happened in those meeting(s) was enough to eliminate any potential objection.”
As mentioned, it’s been three years since the firestorm in Columbus led to Babcock stepping away before coaching a single game for the Blue Jackets. If we go back even further, reports emerged soon after he was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs that Babcock allegedly mentally abused his players, most notably telling Mitch Marner to provide a list of teammates to criticize, then sharing that list with the players soon after.
Other retired NHLers like Mike Commodore, Johan Franzen and Chris Chelios slammed Babcock, with Franzen calling him “the worst person I ever met.” Former NHL forward and TSN analyst Jeff O’Neill said in 2019 that Babcock was “a bad guy” and that several players who were coached by Babcock told him he was “one of the worst human beings they’ve ever been around.”
And now by all accounts, Babcock is going to try and lead Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers franchise to their first Stanley Cup in nearly 40 years.
Babcock hasn’t won in more than a decade
We’ll get into Babcock’s off-ice conduct, history of psychological abuse and the media’s role in enabling these patterns in a bit, but let’s refute the idea that Babcock is still a great coach.
I will concede that at one point, he was one of hockey’s best bench bosses, winning a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008, leading them to another Final in 2009, taking an underdog Mighty Ducks of Anaheim squad to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2003, compiling four 50-win seasons and leading Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014, respectively. He led the Red Wings to two Presidents’ Trophy wins in 2006 and 2008 and pulled off the rare feat of winning both the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup in a single season. He ranks No. 12 on the NHL’s all-time wins list with 700, and there’s little doubt he would have crept into the top five if he continued coaching after his time with the Leafs.
But if you dig deeper, it’s clear Babcock hasn’t accomplished anything in the NHL in nearly two decades. Since the Red Wings fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final, teams coached by Babcock have won just three playoff series, two of which came in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In fact, in the 10 full seasons he was behind the bench for since 2009, his teams have advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs just three times (2010, 2011 and 2013).
Babcock’s perceived greatness beyond the Red Wings’ late-2000s success is largely based on the reputation he carved for himself through his relationship with the media. He would try to be funny, he would provide detailed answers on the mundanity of hockey, and media members have spoken at length on the pleasant conversations they had with him through the years. I’ll be the first to admit that in the handful of interviews or scrums or off-the-record discussions I had with him during his time in Toronto, he was engaging and didn’t hesitate in taking one more question, actually just one more question before you go, just one more follow-up to that last one. He loved talking hockey, and for those outside the locker room, that love was and is infectious.
But at some point, he stopped being a great coach. Babcock’s Red Wings were eliminated in the first round in his last two seasons in Detroit, and his Toronto teams were eliminated in the first round in three straight seasons, including back-to-back Game-7 losses to the Boston Bruins in 2018 and 2019 before being fired a quarter of the way into 2019-20.
It’s been nearly seven years since Babcock was last behind an NHL bench, and more than 13 years since he won a playoff series. Setting aside how relationships between coaches and players have evolved through the years, the actual on-game product has progressed well beyond what it was when Babcock’s teams were posting 50-win seasons. Maybe he’s a smart enough to adapt to today’s game, and his hockey IQ is what’s missing in Edmonton. But why take that chance?
Manufacturing consent
The speculation around Babcock’s return started three weeks ago with Stauffer floating the idea of him coaching in Edmonton in a May 19 interview with former NHL executive and player agent Brian Lawton:
“If you’re Stan Bowman, could you look at a guy like Mike Babcock? I mean, Mike Babcock is not currently suspended by the National Hockey League, right?” Stauffer asked. “He’s just not coaching. We have people from Western Canada who think that Babs would be the answer. Whatever happened in Columbus, and how it ended in Toronto, there was a time when Mike Babcock was seen unequivocally as the No. 1 head coach in the National Hockey League.”
“No doubt about it,” Lawton said.
“No doubt about it,” Stauffer added. “So, in your opinion, would Babcock be an option for the Oilers?”
“I would think so,” Lawton said. “I would think someone with Stan’s background would have a lot of thoughts about that,” Lawton said. “(Bowman) got a second chance, I don’t think there was anything necessarily given, I think Stan worked at it, I think he deserved to get a second chance. Can I say that about Mike? I know Mike, I really like him, I think he’s a good human being.
“I know this business can be cruel. One wrong word, one wrong interaction with a player in today’s world is enough to set you back,” Lawton added. “There’s been a number of coaches and people in management that it’s happened to. I have a lot of time for that.”
That back-and-forth between Stauffer and Lawton would get picked up by the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples, who wrote “Stauffer isn’t bringing up his name for nothing,” then shared on X that he “loves the symmetry and energy of (the) idea of Babcock coaching (the) Oilers.”
Hours later, Dreger reported that he reached out to Babcock amid the Oilers speculation, to which he replied: “Dregs, I’m retired. Loving it.”
I asked Babcock this morning about the idea of coaching again and the speculation around the Oilers. He said, “Dregs, I’m retired. Loving it”.
Part of me loves the symmetry and energy of idea of Babcock coaching Oilers. Babcock — something to prove McD and Drai — something to prove Bowman — something to prove Oilers — something to prove
And with that tweet, what was only water cooler conversation in Northern Alberta became the talk of the hockey universe. No serious reporter or pundit would consider Babcock as an option behind an NHL bench in 2026, but as Staples mentioned in his May 19 column, Stauffer would never bring it up in the first place if he didn’t know something. Dreger sharing a post to his one million-plus followers on X legitimized it.
It didn’t matter that Babcock told Dreger he was retired. The fact that Stauffer, who works for the Oilers as a radio commentator, brought up Babcock in an interview, unprompted, suggested the team was testing the waters to see what the reaction would be to hiring him as their next coach. We appeared to be watching in real time an example of “manufacturing consent,” in which an organization (the Oilers) push a narrative to the public (is Babcock right for the Oilers?) and prepare them for the eventual acceptance of said narrative (Stauffer, media repeating it over and over).
In the weeks that followed, Babcock’s name has come up on different podcasts and columns, with panelists and pundits waving off the stories from his time in Columbus, Toronto and Detroit as “the past is the past,” that modern players are soft and that Babcock is exactly what Edmonton needs, and that everyone deserves a second chance.
The problem is, he already had a second chance. We did this song and dance when the Blue Jackets hired him; Babcock did the media rounds, telling everyone how much he learned from his mistakes and matured as both a coach and as a person. NHL.com shared a three-part series on Babcock’s return to the game, sharing how he was “juiced up” to be back in the game, how much he loved reading about Jack Reacher, how he had worked on being a better communicator, how the Blue Jackets were “going to be ultra-prepared.”
But none of it was true. Babcock was the exact same person those former players told us he was. For nearly four years, we heard anecdote after anecdote about how much of a despicable human being he was, but the game couldn’t help itself. He was welcomed with open arms, then cast away almost immediately.
And now we’re back to where we were in the summer of 2023, with certain media members already providing cover for the Oilers and preparing fans for his eventual hire. Some are calling him “the perfect coach” for the team. Stauffer says the Oilers are in “win-now mode” and need a coach who has shown the ability to do so. Even O’Neill, who as mentioned earlier called him a bad person, said Monday he has “the highest regard” for Babcock as a coach and that he “actually liked the guy.”
In a league where players and coaches and executives with checkered pasts get second chances, Babcock getting a third should come as no surprise.
_____
CHECK OUT OFF THE ROSTER – NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEKDAY
Off The Roster is Toronto sports. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, this is the go-to morning conversation for everything happening in the 6ix – Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and everything in between. From breakout performances and questionable trades to throwback jerseys, viral moments, and the stories fans are actually talking about – it’s smart, sharp, and never scripted. Live weekday mornings on the Nation Network YouTube channel and available wherever you stream podcasts, the show delivers real opinions, real chemistry, and real Toronto energy. Missed an episode? Catch up anytime. Off The Roster—The new sound of the 6ix.
_____