Edmonton must trade high-octane habits for Mike Babcock’s more disciplined 200-foot system. Any blockbuster roster move without it would be pointless.
The Edmonton Oilers are like any other NHL team in that they'll be looking at possible opportunities to improve their roster throughout the 2026-27 regular season. As the team learns more about itself, deals with unexpected injuries, and tries to learn and play a new style implemented by a new coach, it could turn out that their biggest trade isn't something they tackle ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The Oilers first have to decide if they're willing to trade a run-and-gun style for a smarter, more 200-foot game.
In preseason, the Oilers did a good job focusing on defensive play, limiting chances, and getting the depth of the roster to play important roles. In two regular season games, much of that has already been thrown out of the window. That's not to say the team hasn't had dominant stretches -- 35 minutes of game two were so badly titled in the Oilers favor, it looked like a route. But, as the Oilers have done in the past, the familiar story of taking their foot off the gas and getting lackadasical in their own zone cost them. A lowly, but chipping Vancouver Canucks team stormed back to make it a game.
John Shannon was a guest on Oilers Now and said the team is going to be good, "But I also think it's going to take time for Mike Babcock's coaching style to get through. Just because he's had a two-week training camp and two more games with the veterans, that doesn't mean they understand everything. That doesn't mean they don't fall back into some ugly habits that you and I have seen over the last 15 years." He added, "It takes time."
Shannon suggested the Oilers not make any decisions on the roster until Game 25 of the NHL season. "By then, they will understand what Babcock wants."
Given the injury situation, when you don't have Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jason Dickinson, Matt Savoie and others, it's even more imperative that the Oilers choose to play a better system than to try and revert to a style that allows for back-and-forth, high-scoring affairs.
The Oilers have to trade what they knew for what Babcock has to teach them. The leadership group has to wrap their heads around this new approach and the depth will follow. Until that happens, no trade, regardless of how big, will help this team with its biggest problem.
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