Leon Draisaitl seems pretty comfortable with what Mike Babcock is going to bring to the Edmonton Oilers, and the stability he'll provide behind the bench.
There are always going to be questions when a coach with Babcock’s history takes another NHL job, especially after being away from the league for a few years. But the Oilers care about whether Babcock can get this group playing consistently, and whether the players are willing to buy into the way he wants to coach them.
Draisaitl certainly sounds like he is.
“I think he’s got a very clear plan, and I think he holds guys accountable, and I think to him, it’s not about who it is when it comes to accountability, you know?” Draisaitl said.
Draisaitl has basically invited Babcock to coach the Oilers' best players just as hard as everybody else.
“We’re looking to be coached. We’re looking to get better. And I sometimes deserve (to be yelled at) too, just like anyone else does,” Draisaitl said. “I don’t think Babs is going to care overly much who we are in terms of that. I think sometimes that’s needed.”
Accountability only really works when the best players are willing to accept it.
A fourth-line player getting benched after blowing a play doesn't tell anyone much about a coach. That happens everywhere. What happens when Draisaitl has one of those nights where he takes a bad penalty, or McDavid blows the zone early, or Evan Bouchard turns a routine play into a Grade-A chance against? That's when Babcock will also dish out accountability.
It's pretty hard for a player lower in the lineup to complain about getting called out when one of the best players in the same team has already said he expects the same treatment. There will obviously be different expectations for different players, because pretending McDavid and a fourth-line winger should be coached identically would be ridiculous, but the standard itself can still be consistent.
That consistency was missing too often last season, and Draisaitl admitted as much when talking about why Edmonton never really looked right.
“I do think that we never were able to really grab and find our game throughout 82 games,” Draisaitl said. “You see it every year, the teams that are good, there’s a pattern that they create and build over 82 games. They know what their game is. And I think we kind of missed that. We never really found what we were as a group.”
No one's going to look at the Oilers' roster and wonder whether McDavid and Draisaitl could score enough goals or whether Edmonton could generate enough offence to win games. But they couldn't generate a solid performance night-to-night, and it took them too long to figure things out when their game started slipping.
Babcock is a coach who wants his teams to play a certain way, and based on what Draisaitl has had to say, Edmonton's players are looking for that kind of direction. Maybe that's what this group needs after the season Draisaitl was talking about.
Edmonton has spent long enough changing coaches and waiting for the latest new voice to fix whatever went wrong with the last one. At some point, this organization needs a coach who can stick around long enough that the players aren't learning another system every couple of years.
Babcock has a better chance of becoming that guy if McDavid, Draisaitl and the rest of Edmonton's leadership group are already willing to buy into what he's selling.
“I think he’s just going to bring a different attitude and a different mentality to our group,” Draisaitl said. “I think it’s exactly what we need right now. I think he’s going to bring something different, a different look. Everyone’s very excited about it and looking forward to working with him.”
Obviously, saying that in August is easier than living it out in November.
There will be a night when Draisaitl gets called out for something he doesn't agree with. There will probably be a decision from Babcock that McDavid doesn't love. Someone is going to lose ice time, someone is going to get scratched, and eventually we'll find out how much everyone enjoys being coached when being coached isn't particularly enjoyable.
That's normal, and we'll see whether Babcock's relationship with the players can handle it.
But Draisaitl's comments are a good indication that Edmonton's leadership group understand what they're signing up for. Draisaitl is saying he wants to be pushed, wants the group to be pushed and thinks Babcock is the guy to do it.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss the latest news, game-day coverage, and more. Add us to your Google News favourites, and never miss a story.
