The Edmonton Oilers hired Mike Babcock as head coach on June 23, 2026, replacing the fired Kris Knoblauch. Babcock came with baggage: allegations surfaced that he pressured players to show him personal phone photos, and he resigned as Columbus Blue Jackets coach in September 2023, before coaching a single game. The NHL investigated and cleared him to coach again on June 18, 2026. On Wednesday, September 9, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who played under Babcock internationally, publicly praised his bench management and tactical clarity. The compliment landed in the middle of a fight that never really ended.

1. The Team Wanted This, And They're Standing By It (Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Mike Babcock)

Edmonton's stars asked for Babcock specifically, and they're not backing off now.

McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman went and got him. Oilers captain Connor McDavid and his two co-leaders met with Babcock directly, then told GM Stan Bowman they wanted a coach who'd push them. McDavid said it directly: "We brought Babs in to be hard on me. And Leon. The top guys, that's who we want to point the finger at."

Crosby's compliment was specific, not vague. He called Babcock "really organized," with "really good bench management when it comes to matching lines," someone who was "really good at painting a clear picture on how he wanted us to play and what guys' jobs were."

Babcock's own defense is about tone, not intent. On the Columbus resignation, he said: "I chose to walk away, really straightforward; it was very evident before the year started." He added: "Any time you make anybody feel uncomfortable in your life, you should take a look at yourself." On his reputation for being hard on players, he said: "I'm harder on the best guys by far than on the guys trying to survive every day."

2. Former Players Say the Pattern Is the Point (Mike Commodore, Johan Franzen)

This isn't one misread meeting. It's a pattern across three organizations that should have ended the hire.

Mike Commodore compared the hire to a threat to kids. The former NHL defenseman posted on June 30: "Parents keep an eye on your kid if he's at Edmonton Oilers development camp this week…the Oilers hired a predator last week, he's in the building. Don't leave your kid alone with him." The Oilers sent him a cease-and-desist letter that Sunday demanding he take it down.

Johan Franzen says the damage was real and long-lasting. The former Red Wings forward told Swedish outlet Expressen that Babcock is "the worst person I have ever met," a "bully who was attacking people" and "said horrible things." He says he still lives with PTSD, anxiety, depression and nightmares tied to playing under him.

Crosby's praise didn't change Commodore or Franzen's minds. Critics responded to Wednesday's comments by pointing out that Babcock may simply treat elite players like Crosby and McDavid differently than he treated depth players. They pointed back to Franzen's account as the counter-example.

3. The League Says Concerning, Not Disqualifying (NHL, NHLPA, and Babcock's Former Team President)

Nobody with institutional authority over Babcock has called this a clean record — they've called it insufficient grounds to stop him.

The NHL's own clearance wasn't a full exoneration. After an investigation that included Zoom interviews with former Blue Jackets players, the league said on June 18: "there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League."

The players' union used sharper language than the league did. The NHLPA called the Columbus conduct "very concerning," but deferred to the league's finding and said it expects Babcock to "uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches" going forward.

Even Babcock's old team wouldn't defend the tactics. Toronto fired him in November 2019, after allegations that he had a rookie rank teammates by work ethic and then shared the list. Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said the coaching tactics were "not appropriate or acceptable."

Where This Lands

The Oilers' stars recruited Babcock for exactly the intensity that got him fired in Toronto and pushed out in Columbus. Crosby's praise this week is the clearest sign yet that the players who work with him closely are comfortable with that trade. Commodore and Franzen say that comfort is the problem, not proof it's fine — that the same conduct just lands differently on a franchise captain than on a player fighting to make the roster. The NHL and the players' union land in the middle. They cleared Babcock to coach, but they're on record calling the underlying conduct concerning rather than defensible.

Sources