Five Mike Babcock questions as he prepares to coach the Edmonton Oilers

New Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock is among the most famous in NHL history. He will bring discipline, intensity, structure and plenty of newsworthy stories throughout the season. For Oilers fans, the Babcock hiring is a major part of the offseason, but there are dozens of questions in need of answers. Can he win the Stanley Cup? What will he do with the roster alignment?

Here are five questions Oilers fans are most curious about, and possible answers two months in front of training camp.

Will he try to control the runaway offensive talents of McDavid and Draisaitl?

During Babcock’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the club had a large number of elite offensive talents arriving in the league. In 2016-17, Babcock ran Auston Matthews with young two-way winger Zach Hyman (976 minutes) most often at five-on-five, with William Nylander (635 minutes) and Connor Brown (411 minutes) the other primary wingers. All four men were NHL rookies in 2016-17, and Babcock was content to play them together. Matthews-Hyman had a 51 percent goal share, via Natural Stat Trick, as the rookies rewarded the coach for his faith in them.

Expectations for the first season were low, but the watershed rookie crop raised them immediately. As Matthews progressed as a player, and the Maple Leafs emerged as a perennial playoff team, Babcock deployed other players on his line. Kasperi Kapanen, Patrick Marleau and Andreas Johnsson were part of the Matthews line in 2018-19, as Babcock moved Hyman to a line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, while Nylander landed with Nazem Kadri. Babcock moved from the brilliant Hyman-Matthews-Nylander trio to a more balanced, three-scoring-lines approach. Matthews was up against elite competition all down the line, via Puck IQ.

Using Babcock’s handling of Matthews, especially by year three, the ask of Connor McDavid may remain as it was one year ago. The captain with Hyman and young winger Matt Savoie was effective in limited minutes last year, especially in the second half of 2025. McDavid and Savoie combined for a 57 percent goal share and 3.74 goals per 60 at five-on-five.

The Leon Draisaitl line may see major usage versus elites. In 2018-19, the Tavares line spent almost 600 minutes versus elites in a season Matthews missed 14 games. Draisaitl with Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin could see intense minutes against the league’s best.

Will he fade young players?

The evidence from his first two seasons in Toronto suggests that Babcock will play productive youth, but that he has a “type” of player that he prefers. Every coach on the planet would play Matthews, Marner and Nylander, but Babcock trusted Hyman and Brown immediately. Both are two-way wingers with speed and an aggressive forechecking style, and that suits the Babcock template perfectly.

The Oilers had a 48 percent goal share one year ago at five-on-five. Among young Oilers forwards who posted above-average defensive metrics were Podkolzin (57 percent) and Savoie (52 percent). Recalls Josh Samanski (55 percent) and deadline acquisition Colton Dach (57 percent) were also above average. Young scoring winger Ike Howard (36 percent) may have to prove himself in this area, but he showed well with the AHL Bakersfield Condors in the second half of last season.

The group of players who played for Kris Knoblauch one year ago in Edmonton should do well with Babcock.

Will he name a starting goalie and run him heavy?

In his first training camp with Toronto, Babcock named Jonathan Bernier the starter before opening night. Babcock: “I think it’s a good situation for the Leafs. We need to get Bernier back to being Bernier. We need him to be the goalie he’s capable of being.” Bernier played in 38 games, James Reimer in 32 during the 2015-16 season, so it became a shared net as the season rolled along.

Applying that to the Oilers’ situation, don’t be surprised if Babcock runs with Frederik Andersen as the starter. He’s familiar with the player, and it takes the pressure off Tristan Jarry (who struggled last season after coming over in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins). Devon Levi, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres this summer, figures to see limited action during the season.

Who will be his Leo Komarov?

Babcock used rugged two-way winger Leo Komarov as a utility forward during his time in Toronto. If a line was sagging, Komarov would slide on to the unit. Babcock’s devotion to Komarov was similar to that of Oilers coach Craig MacTavish and his remarkable loyalty to centre Marty Reasoner 20 years ago. MacTavish was so convinced of Reasoner’s skills that he compared him to all-time great Joe Sakic.

Babcock’s verbal about Komarev never reached those hyperbolic heights, but his deployment of the player raised eyebrows in Toronto. James Mirtle at The Athletic was driven to distraction over Komarov’s minutes in one game during the 2017-18 season. After a game that saw Komarov play 24:22, including monster special teams minutes, Mirtle correctly questioned the deployment.

He also pointed out something that came up while digging into Babcock’s previous NHL coaching gig with the Detroit Red Wings: he, like MacTavish, is loyal to the two-way types and the defence-first veterans. “The other thing that came up multiple times, however, was his incredible loyalty to some of his veteran players. Undeserving loyalty, in many cases. Mostly to the try-hard types.”

Against this backdrop. Mattias Janmark’s story looms large. A strong checker for years, his offence completely left him in the last two seasons. If he shows some offensive flair early, Janmark could become a Babcock favourite. After that, he is familiar with Hyman and Kapanen, and those two may figure prominently early in the season.

What will drive him to distraction?

Babcock’s media availabilities are blunt and to the point. If his team loses, the Babcock stare and one-word answers will be the order of the day. In Toronto, there were questions about specific roster players who never got into the lineup. Some of these players were excellent and deserved a chance (I wrote about Josh Leivo as a trade target for Edmonton at least 10 times), but it would have been difficult to argue Babcock was deploying a suboptimal lineup during those years.

Bottom line

Babcock will run with what has worked and then check down as necessary. He believes in goalie Andersen, who just won the Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. The top pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard probably stays intact, plus the McDavid and Draisaitl lines should be as described above. If the impact centres are on the same line, Babcock will need to find substantial wingers to play with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the second unit, or Stan Bowman will need to find a second-line centre.

Expect similar lines and pairings to what the Oilers ran one year ago. The goaltending will find its way, as will Howard and the other young players. The question that needs an answer that cannot be provided? Will the players buy in to a strict defensive style after years of being unable to stick with the plan? From Todd McLellan in 2015 to Knoblauch the last three seasons, the Oilers players have been inconsistent; the players are effective for stretches, then lose the plot in coverage defensively.

Babcock is the last chance Texaco for a gifted but undisciplined roster. The initial answers are maddeningly close. We wait.