Oilers Using Mike Babcock Hire to Hide the Real McDavid Story in Edmonton, Analyst Suggests

Did the Edmonton Oilers have a grand scheme in play when they hired new head coach Mike Babcock? Bryan Hayes of TSN seems to think so, suggesting in a recent interview that this hire wasn’t just about getting a good coach. Bringing in Mike Babcock was about shifting media and fan attention so they’d stop talking about the Oilers’ real concerns.

---

“It appears, from my point of view, it’s playing exactly like they want it to,” said Hayes. “The plan was to make everything about Mike Babcock, and that’s the only thing we’re talking about.”

No one is talking about the play of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. No one is talking about McDavid’s contract situation and if he’ll stay in Edmonton past his current deal. In previous camps, it was more about McDavid and the two superstars, and whether McDavid might leave. Now, it seems like that’s the farthest thing from everyone’s mind because Babcock is the leading story and the players are publicly bought in and supportive of the move.

Oilers Trying to Shift the Narrative in Edmonton?

The narrative is now that Babcock is really poking and prodding them, which is what the Oilers leadership group wanted. They’re coming out every single day talking about how much they needed this — and obviously they were the ones that approved the idea of bringing in a polarizing coach with a controversial but proven track record. Hayes argued, “I think it’s a little bit over the top and a bit performative.”

Hayes said that the stars are heaping so much praise on Babcock and how great he is that they are throwing their former coach, Kris Knoblauch, under the bus, to which Hayes said Knoblauch now looks like a completely lost cause — “which I find a little bit hard to believe, given that he took them to back-to-back Cup Finals.”

The Babcock hire has done what it was supposed to do: put the lights on him and make the focus about Babcock. But when the season starts, it’s going to come back to the players, and once the puck drops, it will get back to McDavid and Draisaitl and be more about what they’re doing.

“They are laying it on so thick,” said Hayes. But the focus is on Babcock, and that’s exactly what the organization wanted.

Next: “We’ll Be Better”: Babcock Calls Out Oilers Practice, McDavid Responds