Here’s why Zach Hyman is pushing hard for Mike Babcock in Edmonton

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Here’s why Zach Hyman is pushing hard for Mike Babcock in Edmonton
Credit: Capture d'écran/YouTube

Let's recap the situation.

The Edmonton Oilers collapsed in 2025–2026. This prompted Connor McDavid to say that the team hadn't been good enough and that change was needed.

So the head coach was fired, despite two consecutive appearances in the finals in 2024 and 2025… and despite the fact that his contract extension hadn't even taken effect yet.

Then, the Oilers had a good idea: talk to Bruce Cassidy, an accomplished coach. But Vegas doesn't want to let that happen.

And that's why the Oilers' Plan B (not Plan Z, mind you) is to do everything they can to bring in the overrated Mike Babcock to “bring some seriousness back” to town.

The guy isn't even hired yet (who knows if it'll actually happen), and already, the negative comments are pouring in. The Oilers are getting called every name in the book.

An investigation to dig up old skeletons from 2023 (which were buried for good before the taste of power drove Babcock back into the public eye) has been launched. And it could be a long one…

Is Babcock, who hasn't coached an NHL game since the 2010s (and before the pandemic), really worth it? If in a few weeks the investigation shows he can't coach the Oilers, they'll be in trouble.

Finding a replacement for Babcock at the last minute wouldn't give another coach a real chance to truly prove himself. Just ask Pascal Vincent…

So why, in all this, are the Oilers' veterans pushing for Babcock? It seems to me that's the question.

As Renaud Lavoie mentioned this morning (BPM Sports) and as Darren Dreger also touched on, Zach Hyman is one of the players pushing pretty hard for the coach.

The two men met in Toronto… and Lavoie mentions that one of Babcock's children is employed by a company owned by Hyman. Oh boy, you say?

We don't know what Babcock did in 2023 (not 30 years ago, mind you) to never coach a single game in Columbus. But my goodness, none of this seems worth it! Especially when other good candidates are available…


in a nutshell

– That's a good point. Do the Blue Jackets' young players want to go through that again?

– Note.

– Historic comeback by the Knicks.

– Check it out.

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