When reports first surfaced that the Edmonton Oilers were expected to hire Mike Babcock as the next head coach, my initial thoughts shifted between “Why?” and “Really?”

Sure, Babcock has a history of winning, albeit a long time ago with star-studded teams, but his last playoff win was in 2013, and the last time he coached in the NHL was in the 2019-20 season.

Not to mention, when I hear the name Mike Babcock, my immediate thoughts don’t go to his wins, but instead jump to the negative incidents surrounding players — such as Johan Franzen calling him a bully and saying he was the worst person he’s ever met, asking then-rookie Mitch Marner to rank his teammates’ work ethic, and the incident in Columbus where he asked to see players’ photos, which was an invasion of privacy, to name a few.

Yet, despite those negative player experiences, all signs point to him being the next head coach of the Oilers, pending the outcome of the NHLPA’s potential investigation into the Columbus incident from three years ago.

And if this is indeed where things are headed, for those trying to find an upside in what I feel is otherwise a “What the heck are the Oilers doing?” situation, Zach Hyman’s experience playing under Babcock potentially offers a different perspective.

Hyman played for five seasons under Babcock with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where his former coach recognized Hyman’s potential and gave him an early opportunity that played a role in his development, which we break down below, starting with his rookie season.

Babcock first noticed Hyman when he was still the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings and was scouting prospect Dylan Larkin at the University of Michigan. The coach noticed Larkin’s linemate, Hyman, and his compete level and puck retrieval, saying, “I just saw him get the puck to Larkin all the time,” Babcock said. “That’s all I saw. He just got the puck, got it to Larkin, and they scored.”

Then, Babcock and Hyman first connected with the Maple Leafs in 2015. Babcock was hired on an eight-year deal, while Hyman was acquired from the Florida Panthers before the 2015-16 season and went on to play the final 16 games that year. 

In the 2016–17 season, the Maple Leafs had several high-profile rookies make their debut. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner made up the young core expected to reshape the franchise. Meanwhile, Hyman, a 24-year-old rookie at the time, was viewed as simply a depth guy.

Despite many expecting to see a loaded rookie line of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner, Babcock instead took a different approach.

With his experience coaching former Red Wings stars Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk — both of whom preferred linemates who could get them the puck — Babcock relied on his initial observation of Hyman from his days at the University of Michigan, where he saw him win battles and get the puck into the hands of Larkin, and placed him on a line with Matthews and Nylander to do the same. At the time, according to The Athletic, Babcock credited Hyman’s work ethic, saying:

According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five in 2016–17, Hyman’s most frequent linemate that season was Matthews, as the two played 975:58 together, along with 548:55 alongside Nylander. Hyman finished the 2016–17 campaign with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists), while Matthews led the team with 69 points (40 goals, 29 assists) and won the Calder Trophy as the Maple Leafs made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

In addition, Babcock’s trust in Hyman carried over from the top six to the penalty kill, where the then-rookie led all players in shorthanded minutes with 227:46 and had four shorthanded goals, as the Maple Leafs finished with the 11th-best penalty kill in the league.

That said, Hyman’s usage in the Leafs’ top six under Babcock was a divided opinion among the fan base.

While some supported Babcock’s decision to keep Hyman alongside Matthews and Nylander throughout his time in Toronto, others felt he lacked the offensive skill to justify a permanent spot on the line.

That sentiment was most strongly felt in Hyman’s second full season in 2017–18, when many believed the newly signed Patrick Marleau, who had 1,082 career points at the time, should have been playing with Matthews and Nylander instead.

However, Babcock did not budge, and Hyman still played the most five-on-five minutes with Matthews that season (790:16), while at one point Babcock even referred to him as “the best forechecker in hockey.” He finished the year with 40 points, while Matthews recorded 63 points despite missing 20 games.

.

In total, Hyman played five seasons under Babcock, recording 152 points in 302 games during that stretch, improving year over year, ultimately earning Toronto’s nomination for the 2019–20 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. That development carried on beyond his time in Toronto, where he eventually emerged as a 50-goal scorer with the Oilers.

Credit goes to Hyman for the hard work he put in, yet, as much as it’s difficult to admit, it was Babcock who recognized his work ethic and potential early, and who spoke to it in interviews over the years, such as when he said, “He’s just that kind of guy. He’s just working, working, working.”

In his Maple Leafs tenure, Babcock consistently gave Hyman opportunities and kept him in the top six, where, at times, it seemed there were other players who may have been better suited for that role alongside Matthews.

And who knows, if Babcock hadn’t done that, perhaps we never would have discovered just how well Hyman could work alongside Connor McDavid — that’s just my glass-half-full spin on all of this.

If Babcock is officially announced as the next head coach of the Oilers, familiarity with a leader on the team in Hyman could get things started on a positive note, as by all accounts, it seems the two had a good working relationship during their time together with the Maple Leafs.

Also, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported, “Babcock has met with or spoken to several members of the team’s leadership group. Whatever happened in those meeting(s) was enough to get the players on board with the idea.” Hearing that makes me think that Hyman may have convinced the other core members, based on his positive experience with Babcock, that the coach would be a good fit for the team. This is purely my speculation.

Additionally, based on Babcock’s previous coaching philosophy of having his star players paired with players who can win board battles and get pucks into the stars’ hands, I think guys like Vasily Podkolzin, Matt Savoie and, if re-signed, Kasperi Kapanen, who had the most productive season of his NHL career (44 points) under Babcock with the Maple Leafs in 2018–19, could all benefit from that approach.

That said, considering Babcock’s history of troubled incidents with players at previous NHL stops, I’m not convinced his positive experience with Hyman alone is enough to label him as the best option to lead the Oilers to a Stanley Cup. As I said before, there’s never a dull moment in Oil Country, and there are likely a lot more layers to this story that we’ll learn about soon enough.

Hockey fans recognize elite performance instantly, and that’s exactly how Capital GMC Buick operates. With one of the city’s deepest selections of top-quality GMC and Buick vehicles and a customer experience built to win year after year, this dealership consistently leads the pack. Five current NHL players proudly drive vehicles from Capital GMC Buick, and for good reason. The store has been rated the #1 GM dealership in Canada by DealerRater for three consecutive years, is the only GM dealer in Edmonton endorsed by J.D. Power as a Dealer of Excellence, and has raised over $30,000 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital.