Nation Sites
The Nation Network
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
The Oilers brought the Mike Babcock sideshow onto themselves: Canucks Conversation
Photo credit: © The Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK
Jun 11, 2026, 16:07 EDT
On Thursday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by Oilersnation’s Baggedmilk to discuss the Edmonton Oilers’ reported interest in Mike Babcock and why the potential hire has left many fans scratching their heads.
Baggedmilk admitted he shouldn’t have been surprised by the development, but that didn’t make it any easier to understand.
“Whenever you expect the Oilers to do something right, just know they’re going to do the opposite of that,” Baggedmilk said. “They started talking about Bruce Cassidy as an option which made sense; he’s had recent success, has the Cup ring and that experience obviously matters to them. Obviously Vegas is letting Bruce come talk to them which is unfortunate so they had to come up with a plan B, but I assumed that plan B would be literally anyone other than Mike Babcock.
“I won’t pretend his resume isn’t impressive; he’s got Olympic golds, Stanley Cup, something like 700 wins. There’s a lot there to like until you remember that Cup win came with a Detroit team with a bunch of Hall of Famers on it. His time in Toronto did not go well, hasn’t coached in the NHL since 2019, hasn’t won a playoff series since 2013, his last attempt at coaching ended before it even started.
“I did not think Babcock’s name would come up. Maybe they’d soften their stance on needing a Cup ring, needing a hard-ass kind of guy. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but it’s the most Oilers decision ever and I shouldn’t have been surprised.”
Harm noted that while Oilers management is taking plenty of criticism, he finds it hard to believe the players aren’t involved in the process.
“People are understandably dunking on Oilers’ management and ownership but to me, there’s no way they’d be this deep into the process of potentially hiring Mike Babcock without McDavid, Draisaitl and that leadership group greenlighting the idea,” Harm said. “I bet if the players felt uncomfortable and didn’t want this, they could stop this given how much they mean to the organization.
“The other angle is Zach Hyman is a huge part of the leadership group, and went from being a middling AHL scorer to a first-line NHLer under Babcock with the Leafs. That said, this would be a puzzling and questionable hiring, but the bigger surprise to me is it seems like this Oilers’ leadership group is all onboard.”
Baggedmilk agreed that reports suggest the players support the move, but questioned how much influence they should have over a decision of this magnitude.
“We’ve had reports that the players were consulted and are on board,” Baggedmilk said. “At the same time, the stories of the players making some decisions behind the scenes has been going on for so long in Edmonton that it’s not surprising and ultimately, the players have made bad decisions in the past.
“The immediate example is the Zack Kassian extension that happened for way too much money. It was reported he was tight with that group and they put the pressure on for him to get an extension. It’s one of those things where yes I’m glad the players would be on board, but sometimes you have to take the decision out of their hands. Consulting the players makes a lot of sense but letting them drive the decision is another story.”
For Baggedmilk, the biggest concern is that Babcock’s reputation appears to be carrying more weight than his recent results.
“The last time Babcock won a round in the playoffs, the core guys for the Oilers weren’t even in the NHL or drafted,” he said. “He got some success a long time ago but he hasn’t done anything of any real success since 2008.”
Whether Babcock ultimately lands the job or not, the fact that Edmonton has gotten this far down the road with the former Stanley Cup-winning coach has become one of the more surprising stories of the offseason.
Sponsored by bet365
Breaking News
- The Oilers brought the Mike Babcock sideshow onto themselves: Canucks Conversation
- NHL Notebook: Oilers’ Darnell Nurse asks for a trade
- Patrik Allvin raves about Kraken’s practice facility
- Kraken hire ex-Canucks GM Patrik Allvin as assistant GM
- 5 high-upside players the Canucks could target with pick 24 at the 2026 NHL Draft