Analyst Isn’t Buying All of the Mike Babcock Praise from Oilers Superstars

Few teams in the NHL had noisier offseasons than the Edmonton Oilers, and most of that noise came from the decision to hire Mike Babcock as head coach.

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The Babcock saga drew scrutiny from the moment word spread that the Oilers had interest, and all eyes will continue to be on him heading into a pivotal 2026-27 season in Edmonton. So far, so good by the sounds of it, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl recently praising their new bench boss’ honesty and willingness to be hard on his players.

That’s just what McDavid, Draisaitl and company have assured everyone they wanted, however, former NHLer and current TSN analyst Jeff O’Neill isn’t exactly buying that Babcock is going to change much with the Oilers’ superstars.

O’Neill said:

“It’s an indictment on yourself almost, where it’s like, ‘I could have done whatever I wanted and people were afraid.’ I don’t know, it’s bizarre. It’s like they’ve been brainwashed or something. All of the reports about Mike Babcock, it was never Datsyuk or Zetterberg or Auston or Mitch. It was everybody else that got the jolts. So what the h*** is he gonna say to Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid? It’s almost that they know that this guy isn’t gonna say squat to them anyway. I totally get it, but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, ‘I’m this player and I’m that player, and I get the money and I do what I want and leave me alone,’ and then all of a sudden wake up one summer and say, ‘We need some guys to tell the best players what the h**** going on here,”

The 63-year-old Babcock was hired by Edmonton back in June, though the details of his contract have not been publicly revealed.

There’s no doubt that Babcock will bring a completely different style of leadership than Kris Knoblauch or Jay Woodcroft, but that’s clearly what McDavid, Draisaitl and the rest of the Oilers’ core believe is needed to get them over the hump.

If it works and they bring a Stanley Cup back to Edmonton, then all will be forgotten. Until then, criticism of Babcock and his every move is bound to continue. It’s up to him and the Oilers to keep those critics quiet.

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