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Early impressions from Mike Babcock’s first week behind the Oilers’ bench

By Andrew Cawood

Sep 23, 2026, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 23, 2026, 13:21 EDT

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The Edmonton Oilers took a chance hiring Mike Babcock.

A lot has been said this summer about Edmonton’s controversial choice for their head coach. Now we’ve seen Babcock in action through a week of training camp and two pre-season wins over the Winnipeg Jets. Words that come to mind to describe the 63-year-old are: blunt, confident, intense, and bold. Of course we’re still in the honeymoon phase; it’s early days.

How have things gone so far? Let’s take a look:

Running practices

Babcock has run a few practices since training camp opened on Sept. 17th. He’s very vocal at practice, preferring to explain drills on the go instead of going to the whiteboard. His instructions have been simple and clear, and he wants lots of pace.

It’s obvious he knows what he wants and demands perfection. Even the team leaders must fall in line. Leon Draisaitl went early on a drill in the first practice, and Babcock called him back. Afterwards no. 29 said, “It was great. It was intense. He’s energetic. He wants things done a certain way and he wants them done right. I think anyone in the building could hear it and probably see it, but it’s great, the details are great. He cares about the little things, so it was a good first day.”

Monday after practice, Babcock called out the entire team, ” I didn’t think this one was very pretty.” According to the head coach, the players have to skate hard, execute, listen, and compete. At the same time, he acknowledged that it’s still early in the season, and it will take time for players to adjust to a new system. McDavid was asked about Babcock’s critique of the practice, and the team captain stated, “That’s right in line with my beliefs too, practice is extremely important.”

On Tuesday, Babcock was much more pleased with how practice went: “they had great tempo, they got up and down the rink, they competed.” That media scrum might become famous for the “tree vs shrub” quote as the new coach said taller defencemen made it harder for opponents to find space.

He also reiterated that the team was taking things day-by-day and it was all about the process. According to Babcock, players control their own destiny: “They decide by their play what they get to play and how much they get to play.” So he will reward those who give a full effort every time they’re on the ice. Last week Sean Avery spoke about his former coach on ON Everyday, “he taught us how to work.”

Public comments to the media

The Oiler’s experienced bench boss has been open and upfront with the media. He doesn’t seem like a guy who last coached an NHL game in Nov. 2019. Babcock has held court, patiently listening in press conferences. There has even been a dash of dry humour. He has also been open that if he doesn’t know something, he’ll say it. A number of reporters have asked about line combinations, and Babcock has preached patience. After the first day of practice, he said he’d need more time to get to know the players.

Babcock hasn’t been shy about sharing his opinion about his players. Before the first meeting with the Winnipeg Jets, the new coach was asked if he was going to focus more on the bubble players than the top line.

“One hundred per cent the opposite,” he said. “Those guys got to do things right, and if they do things right, everyone else will do things right.
“They’re the most important people to do things without the puck that we need. Now they’re going to play their game, but they have to play with detail without the puck, and so that’s their focus for sure. Then the second part is to find depth. We need depth in the organization, so we don’t have to play those guys too much. So that’s my job: find it.”

So he intends to hold McDavid and Draisaitl to the same standards as the rest of the team.

However, he also gives context to his comments about players. Babcock criticized Isaac Howard after the first Winnipeg game, “Yeah, I think Howie has had a real good camp. I didn’t like him as much tonight”. Then added, “But what I would say with him is let’s not judge him. I could just tell when he was walking around he wasn’t very happy. So he knows, so he’ll be better. But his work ethic, his determination, his checking back has been way better”.

Babcock commended Alex Formenton for his strong performance in the same game against Winnipeg. In fact, the new coach praised the other members of Formenton’s line as well, Colton Dach and Mathieu Joseph:

Then he continued to rave about the line at practice a couple of days later:

“Their line was the best line,” said Babcock. “They were the best line just there in practice. Their number one is they all know they’re in that survival mode in their career, so they’re out there competing, setting the work ethic.”

After Tuesday’s game against the Jets, he said, “I thought our guys played hard tonight.” Babcock singled out no. 96, “I thought Walman had a heck of a game.” Overall, he saw growth with a makeshift lineup and was pleased with their progress.

Edmonton’s head coach is not afraid to call players out in public, and it’s been balanced with praise. That sounds more like a “player-friendly” coach. Maybe we’re going to get an old-school coach with some nuance. That might just be a winning formula.

On the bench during games

So far the Oilers have had two pre-season games against the Winnipeg Jets. After the 5-2 win at Rogers Place, McDavid commented about the new coach’s first time on their bench, “I thought it was great. Detailed, into the game.”

Since camera shots for the 2-1 OT win in Winnipeg were from the edge of Hudson Bay, there weren’t many shots of the bench. For the second game in a row, there wasn’t much video of Babcock at work. Once there is more, it will be intriguing to watch the body language of the famous coach and his players.

So far, so good

Overall, he’s portrayed a supremely confident figure. Maybe his in-your-face style might have rubbed someone the wrong way in the past. However, so far things are going smoothly.

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