The Edmonton Oilers have hired Mike Babcock as the 19th head coach in franchise history, the team announced Tuesday.

The 63-year-old has been out of the league for three years after being hired and fired by the Columbus Blue Jackets before a game was played, after making younger players uncomfortable by going through photos on their phones, prompting an NHLPA investigation. Babcock brings with him a complicated legacy mired by allegations of tyrannical control of players that clouded his tenure as one of the best hockey coaches, winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings, two Olympic gold medals, a World Championship gold and a World Junior gold, which makes him the only head coach in the Triple Gold Club.

A press conference is expected Tuesday to introduce Babcock.

The hiring of Babcock, who hasn’t coached an NHL game in six and a half years, comes at a critical time in the Oilers organization’s history, with Connor McDavid set to enter a two-year, $12.5 million darling extension. Babcock will replace Kris Knoblauch behind the Oilers bench after he was fired by the team on May 14.

Knoblauch helped the Oilers reach back-to-back Stanley Cup finals in 2024 and 2025, losing in seven and six games, respectively, to the Florida Panthers. After the Oilers had a lacklustre 2025-26 season and were eliminated from the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round in six games, the team began to look for a potential replacement.

Former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was linked to the Oilers as their top candidate, but the team has been blocked from obtaining permission. Cassidy has one year left on his contract, and there have been no indications that the Golden Knights would ever grant the Oilers permission to interview the head coach who has been eager to get back behind an NHL bench.

Now, with reports of the Oilers looking to hire a hard-nosed coach who can be more strict, the team has brought in someone who has always pushed those limits to the extreme with players. Incidents with ex-NHL’ers Mike Commodore, Johan Franzen, Mike Modano, and current Golden Knight Mitch Marner are well documented, leading many in the Edmonton market to question the Oilers’ decision to hire Babcock.

There are questions about whether or not Babcock is even a good coach in today’s NHL. After the 2008 Cup win, his Red Wings made the Stanley Cup final in 2009, but fell in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins as they hunted for a back-to-back win for the second time in franchise history.

Over the course of the next six seasons before he was fired in 2015, the Red Wings continued to have regular season success, posting a .608 points percentage, the ninth best mark over that stretch, making the playoffs in each season. But Detroit would never exit the second round, winning just under 40 per cent of their playoff games, with his final playoff round win coming in 2013.

After he and Detroit went their separate ways, Babcock signed a massive eight-year, $50 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, taking over behind their bench ahead of the 2015-16 season. He lasted four and a half lackluster seasons, posting a 173-133-45 record and a .546 points percentage before he was fired in November 2019. Toronto would make the playoffs in three of his first four full seasons, but they failed to exit the first round of the playoffs.

His firing brought forth stories of pitting a rookie Marner against his teammates, causing Babcock to be blacklisted by the professional hockey world. Babcock spent the 2020-21 season with the NCAA’s University of Vermont as a senior advisor, and the 2021-22 season as the head coach of USports’ University of Saskatchewan. The Huskies went 13-7 in that 20-game season, before losing in the Canada West quarterfinal.

When he was hired by the Blue Jackets, Babcock “sounded like someone who has learned from his time in the college ranks and is ready to adjust to modern players,” The Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno wrote at the time.

“Change in all of us takes time,” said Babcock. “I think what this has done is given me a chance to get outside my body and have a look and see what I’m doing and understand you needed to change, you needed to grow.”

Months later, after being fired for going through photos on players’ phones — something veteran players were comfortable with, but younger players weren’t — the Blue Jackets were apologetic, saying they “got it wrong.”

“We went through a process earlier this summer prior to hiring Mike Babcock as our head coach, but we got it wrong and that’s on us,” team president John Davidson said when the team introduced Pascal Vincent as Babcock’s replacement.

In the lead-up to Babcock’s hiring, reports surfaced that the Oilers had been in consultation with the NHL Players’ Association to see if “there are any objections that must be resolved before potentially hiring Mike Babcock.” Edmonton’s leadership group of players, as well as owner Daryl Katz, had reportedly met with Babcock, with Oilers players on board.

Then, a report surfaced that there were “significant” additional claims of misconduct that led to Babcock’s resignation in Columbus that were separate from the photo incident. It kicked up a firestorm that led to an NHL investigation led by commissioner Gary Bettman, but last Thursday, Babcock was cleared, giving Edmonton the chance to hire him.

“The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith,” the League said in a statement. “Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favorable (sic) to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League.”

More than a fair share of questions will arise in Babcock’s hiring in Edmonton, many of which can only be answered by him and the Oilers organization.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’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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