Spector: Is Babcock the right person to guide Oilers?

EDMONTON — The Connor McDavid Era has entered be-careful-what-you-wish-for territory. Next stop, either a Stanley Cup parade or an entirely new management team, and perhaps, captain.

In a hire that has the full approval of the Edmonton Oilers' leadership group — our guess, McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm — the Oilers will name pariah Mike Babcock as their new head coach as soon as the National Hockey League signs off on the hire.

Babcock would steer the Oilers through the final phase of McDavid era, after which McDavid would sign a new contract to remain in Edmonton or move on to greener pastures if the Babcock hire blows up in Edmonton’s faces.

Babcock, 63, was grilled by the Oilers leaders in a meeting last week — asked about former transgressions and how, exactly, he came to own a reputation as the hardest of hard-ass coaches who crosses the line often enough to be black-balled since 2023— and they came away with one implicit instruction for general manager Stan Bowman:

“This is our guy. We want to be pushed.”

If that is the realization from Edmonton’s core group — that former coaches who coaxed, cajoled and worked with the leaders eventually lost the control of the team to superstars who ended up with too much say on who played where, how much and with whom — then Babcock is exactly the guy for the job.

Bravo to those for looking in the mirror and realizing that players need to play, coaches need to coach, and that blurred line needs to be made definitive once again in Edmonton. We wholeheartedly agree.

If we’ve answered the question, “Did the Oilers get their coach?”, that query falls well behind this next question where Babcock is concerned:

Did the Oilers get the right kind of man? The right person?

When Babcock flies in for the press conference, expected to be late this week or early next, he’ll require a vessel that is far bigger than Daryl Katz’ private jet. The forrner Detroit, Toronto, Anaheim and Team Canada coach has amassed more baggage along the way than the Kardashians on a week-long shopping spree.

Babcock, the hockey world now knows, has been accused of treating his players very badly over the years.

Detroit’s Johan Franzen once called him, “a terrible person. The worst person I’ve ever met.” He was driven to a nervous breakdown after a playoff game, according to 1,651-game NHLer Chris Chelios.

“Franzen was hurt at the time of the playoffs, we lost to Nashville,” Chelios said on a podcast. “(Babcock) was blatantly verbally assaulting him during the game. It got to the point for Johan — no one really knew he was suffering with the concussion and depression — he just broke down and had a nervous breakdown.

“Not only on the bench, but after the game, into the rooms in Nashville. That was probably the worst thing that I’ve ever seen.”

Babcock’s targets range from Mike Modano, whom Babcock denied the chance to play career game No. 1,500, to Mitch Marner, who was intentionally embarrassed by Babcock as a young Maple Leaf, to a role player like Mike Commodore, whose public vitriol towards Babcock knows no bounds.

In Babcock’s last coaching job, which did not even endure training camp, this statement followed Babcock out the door in Columbus: “Our players deserve to be treated with respect in the workplace. Unfortunately, that was not the case in Columbus. The club’s decision to move forward with a new head coach is the appropriate course of action.”

So, the Oilers have their man. But what kind of a man do they have?

How will he handle the third Evan Bouchard turnover of the game, or another blown assignment by Darnell Nurse?

What verbiage will Babcock use on the bench when Draisaitl sits down in front of him, after one of his backhand passes across the top of the offensive zone failed to crest the third opposition stick, and went the other way on an odd-man rush?

Will McDavid still be OK with this hire when he takes on four opponents late in a 2-1 game rather than dump the puck in? When he goes even on a three-point night, and the Oilers lose 4-3?

Will all the members of that leadership group still want to be “pushed” when they’re sitting on the bench watching the second power-play unit take the ice? Or when one of them is told to “sit down!” while someone else takes their spot — a card Kris Knoblauch simply never played?

Credit to the players who realized that only the strongest medicine can cure what ailed the Oilers last season, and are willing to ingest that vile concoction on a nightly basis this coming season.

And we’ll even acknowledge the organizational courage of a team that has walked openly into Oakland Raiders or Vegas Golden Knights territory — unfazed and unapologetic to what fans or media say when they hire a Babcock, Bowman, Evander Kane or Corey Perry.

If ever “Just win, baby,” described a hockey team, it describes the 2026-27 Edmonton Oilers.

Or, it could end with a boom, and scorched earth will ensue.

Get your popcorn ready, folks. The show is about to begin.