- Stan Bowman says he did not know Misha Donskov before the Oilers hired him
- Mike Babcock had worked with Donskov before and pushed for the addition
- Read below for Bowman’s full explanation and what Donskov’s role looks like
Mike Babcock is the reason Misha Donskov is in Edmonton.
Oilers GM Stan Bowman went on OilersNow with Bob Stauffer on Tuesday and explained how the coaching consultant hire came together, per Daily Hive. The short version is that he took his head coach’s word for it.
“I didn’t know Misha, but Mike had worked with him before,” Bowman said. “[Babcock] raved about his insight and his value, and how he thought he could really bring something to our group even on a smaller role.”
The Oilers announced the addition last Thursday, and it caught more than a few people off guard:
Donskov is not joining the bench. DJ Smith and Paul MacFarland are Babcock’s assistants this season.
The 49-year-old keeps his job as Hockey Canada’s vice president of hockey operations and national men’s teams coach, flying into Edmonton for a handful of days each month to feed ideas to the staff.
Bowman spent time with Donskov at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this summer and came away sold on the setup.
“He’s still going to be playing an important role with our group,” Bowman said. “I’m excited about it. I really think he’s got some great ideas and he’s got some great experience. It’s a little different, but sometimes with new ideas you break through and really get a benefit out of it. That’s what we’re hoping.”
Babcock kept it simpler when the move was announced, saying in the team’s release that Donskov’s “wealth of experience, people skills and professionalism will make our group better.”
The resume holds up. Donskov won a Cup with Vegas in 2023 and spent two seasons as an assistant in Dallas before this.
With Team Canada, he took silver at the 2026 Olympics, bronze at the 2026 World Juniors and gold at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. He runs Canada’s bench at the World Juniors in Edmonton and Red Deer in December.
Edmonton Journal veteran Jim Matheson liked the move and went straight to the part the Oilers are not saying out loud:
Nobody in the organization has framed this as a succession plan, and the term on Babcock’s contract has never been made public.
Bowman fired Kris Knoblauch in May and spent the summer rebuilding the staff around Babcock. Donskov is the last name on that list, and he got there because Babcock asked for him.
