Death, taxes, and the Edmonton Oilers trying to maximize their bottom six.

They’re three long-standing traditions in life, and the Oilers’ eternal struggle to get the most out of their team when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are off the ice has continued to plague them.

Mike Babcock wants to fix that.

It’s been his messaging since he took over as the 19th head coach in franchise history in late June. And on Friday, after day two of training camp wrapped up, he, for the first time, laid out how that could actually look.

“With the bottom six on our team, we have to make them more important,” said Babcock. “And we want to do that because that’ll keep our top guys (at) 21 minutes, instead of worn out.

“Night after night after night, if you want to go after the other team and wear them down, you can’t play too much.”

21 minutes for the top guys. That’s the goal. Will it happen? That remains to be seen, of course, as Babcock isn’t the first coach to try and limit the minutes of guys like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. 21 minutes isn’t too far off from where they’ve been in the past, either.

Over the last three seasons, McDavid has averaged 22:09 per night, averaging a career-high 22:59 per night last season. Draisaitl has averaged 21:14 per night over that stretch, though his 21:35 average last season was a bit below his average from the last number of years.

Maybe the top guys don’t need as much adjusting, but gone will be the nights of players hitting the ice for only a few minutes.

“If you’re a young guy and you sit on the bench and you get ice cold and then you go out, you’re not ready because it got in your head,” he said. “If you’re a 12-year veteran and you know your job, you can sit there for a week. You just know your job, you go out and do it.

“We want them to have a role. We want them to know what their job is. Joe’s come here. Joe (Mathieu Joseph) now has been in the league 10 years. He knows he forechecks, he knows he stops on defense, and he knows he penalty kills. Straightforward. But he also doesn’t want to play three minutes.”

Figuring out the roles will be the next biggest task for Babcock and his coaching staff. After all, he’s only had players on the ice for two days now.

“When you’re new as a coach, everyone gets a fresh chance,” he said. “I don’t know what’s a better situation. Now that camp’s so short, they’ve made it hard.

“So I’m not going to learn a whole bunch till I’m standing on the pine there tomorrow night. I’m going to learn way more the next day. And then as soon as it’s more NHL on NHL versus not, you’re going to learn more.”

Zach Laing is Daily Faceoff Edmonton’s managing editor and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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