- The Oilers officially named Mike Babcock their head coach on Tuesday
- The hire came only after the NHL cleared Babcock over his 2023 Columbus exit
- Read below for the league’s ruling, the D.J. Smith addition and what Babcock inherits in Edmonton
Mike Babcock is back behind an NHL bench.
The Edmonton Oilers officially named Babcock their head coach on Tuesday, the team confirmed on social media. He replaces Kris Knoblauch and takes over a roster built to win right now.
This one only happened after the NHL cleared the way. The league wrapped up its look into Babcock’s short stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets last week and found no reason to block him.
The ruling didn’t leave much room for debate. “Even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the league,” the NHL said.
Babcock walked away from Columbus in 2023 before ever coaching a game there. Players accused him of asking for their phones and scrolling through their camera rolls, then putting the photos up on a screen. The NHLPA pushed the league to investigate once Edmonton’s interest got out.
Edmonton didn’t stop at one hire. The team also brought in D.J. Smith as an associate coach.
Smith just finished the season as the Kings’ interim head coach before Los Angeles moved on. He goes back a long way with Babcock, working under him as an assistant in Toronto starting in 2015.
The 63-year-old hasn’t run an NHL bench since 2019, when the Maple Leafs fired him partway through the season. He still sits 12th on the all-time wins list with 700 and won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008.
Now he inherits Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and a front office that’s already been busy this offseason. The pressure in Edmonton doesn’t get any lighter.
