Seven years after he coached his last NHL game, Mike Babcock is back behind an NHL bench.
The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that Babcock has been hired as the new team’s head coach. He takes over from Kris Knoblauch, who was fired after the Oilers’ first-round loss to Anaheim in this year’s playoffs.
The Oilers were cleared to hire Babcock by the NHL on Thursday after the league concluded an investigation into his conduct during his brief stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023. The investigation was conducted at the request of the NHL Players’ Association once reports of Edmonton’s interest in Babcock surfaced.
Joining Babcock’s staff is associate coach D.J. Smith, a former Toronto assistant under Babcock who later coached the Ottawa Senators for more than five seasons.
Babcock previously coached parts of 16 seasons with Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto, leading the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup title in 2007-08.
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He last coached an NHL game Nov. 19, 2019, a 4-2 Maple Leafs loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. He was fired the next day as a result of Toronto’s 9-10-4 start to the season.
He signed a two-year, US$8 million contract with the Blue Jackets on July 1, 2023, but resigned just before the start of training camp amid an investigation into reports of Babcock invading the privacy of his players.
It has been a while since a Babcock-led team has enjoyed significant NHL success. The last time he took a team past the first round of the playoffs was 2012-13, when the Red Wings lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
However, with a limited pool of candidates and an urgency to win with superstar forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl still in the fold, the Oilers opted to hire a head coach with experience and success at the NHL and international levels, though his methods have come under scrutiny at times.
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The 63-year-old Babcock, from Saskatoon, joined Anaheim’s American Hockey League affiliate in Cincinnati after a successful run coaching the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs.
He was named Anaheim’s head coach before the 2002-03 season and led them to the Stanley Cup final in his first campaign, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils.
He joined the Red Wings as a free agent after the 2004-05 lockout and spent 10 seasons in Detroit. The Red Wings made the playoffs in each season and appeared in back-to-back Stanley Cup finals against Pittsburgh in 2008 and 2009. The Red Wings won in ’08, and the Penguins got revenge the next season.
After failing to reach a contract extension with the Red Wings, Babcock signed an eight-year contract worth US$50 million with Toronto before the 2014-15 season.
The Maple Leafs made three straight playoff appearances under Babcock but lost in the first round each time, including seven-game defeats to Boston in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Babcock’s coaching methods have faced criticism over the years.
After Toronto fired him, forward Mitch Marner confirmed reports that Babcock had asked him as a rookie to rank teammates by work ethic before sharing the results with players.
In his 2024 memoir, former Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri wrote that Babcock had training staff rank players’ effort levels in the gym and then discussed those evaluations in front of teammates, which he said damaged trust within the dressing room.
Former Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen called Babcock the “worst person” he had ever met in 2019. Ex-teammate Chris Chelios later said Babcock berated Franzen during their time in Detroit to the point of a nervous breakdown.
After stints at the University of Vermont and the University of Saskatchewan, Babcock announced in 2022 that he had retired from coaching. He made his return next year with Columbus before quickly exiting the profession again.
After being hired by the Blue Jackets, ex-NHLer Paul Bissonnette said on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast he was told by an unidentified player that the veteran coach asked players during one-on-one meetings to see photos on their phones and would then stream them on his television.
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Babcock and Columbus captain Boone Jenner said in a joint statement released by the Blue Jackets that the report is “a gross misrepresentation of those meetings and extremely offensive.”
The NHL Players’ Association investigated the reports before Babcock issued a statement announcing his resignation.
“Upon reflection, it has become clear that continuing as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets was going to be too much of a distraction,” Babcock said. “While I’m disappointed to not have had the opportunity to continue the work we’ve begun, I know it’s in the best interest of the organization for me to step away at this time. I wish everyone in the organization well in the upcoming season.”
Internationally, Babcock led Canada to gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the 1997 world junior hockey championship and the 2004 world hockey championship.
The Oilers are scheduled to introduce Babcock at a news conference Tuesday at Rogers Place.
