- Pierre LeBrun has the term on Mike Babcock’s Oilers contract, which Edmonton never announced
- Babcock was happy in retirement before the Oilers came calling in June
- Read below for the length of the deal and who talked him into taking it
Mike Babcock’s contract in Edmonton runs longer than anyone outside the building knew.
The Oilers gave their new head coach a three-year deal with an option year on top, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported Saturday, citing a person with direct knowledge who spoke on condition of anonymity. Edmonton never put a term on the hire when it made Babcock official on June 23.
That silence was deliberate, and it is not only an Oilers habit. LeBrun wrote that teams have gotten craftier about keeping coaching terms quiet, since publishing the exact length invites a full season of speculation the moment a coach reaches his final year.
Three guaranteed years plus an option is a serious commitment to a coach who had not run an NHL bench since November 2019. Toronto fired him early that season. His comeback attempt in Columbus in 2023 ended before he coached a game.
He also was not chasing the job. According to the same report, Babcock was happy in retirement, and it took conversations with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and other Oilers leaders to pull him back behind a bench. Both stars publicly endorsed the hire later in the summer.
McDavid has said the whole point was bringing in someone willing to be hard on him and Draisaitl. Draisaitl called him a coach who tells you things straight to your face.
Take a look at the full introductory press conference from Rogers Place:
Babcock won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008 and reached the Final three times. The resume was never the question in Edmonton. The term was, and now it is public: three years, with an option that can push it to four.
