Babcock Has Permission to Push McDavid & Draisaitl. But Really?

There’s an interesting little question hiding underneath all the Mike Babcock talk in Edmonton. It isn’t whether Babcock is going to be hard on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They’ve already told us they want that. McDavid has basically said he’s ready for a coach who will sit him down for a shift when he deserves it. Draisaitl has praised Babcock’s direct communication and says the new coach knows what the team needs.

So far, so good. But watching all of this from a distance, it’s hard not to remember Toronto.

O’Neill raises a crucial point about Babcock’s Maple Leafs tenure.

Jeff O’Neill recently raised the issue, suggesting that Babcock’s reputation for being hard on players didn’t necessarily mean he treated his biggest stars the same way he treated everybody else. That’s a provocative way of putting it, but the question remains whether that’s entirely fair.

Babcock was certainly demanding with Toronto’s young players. There’s evidence of that. But the key word is “young.” The Oilers’ elite core is far more established than his Maple Leafs were. They weren't yet the established stars they are today, and his relationship with some of the younger players was different as well. I think that distinction matters.

There’s a world of difference between a coach telling a superstar, “You need to be better,” and a coach telling a young player the same thing when that young player is still wondering whether he belongs. The first can feel like accountability. The second can feel like punishment.

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That’s one reason Babcock’s Edmonton experiment is so interesting.

McDavid and Draisaitl aren't being surprised by Babcock's personality. They helped invite it into the room. They met with him before the hiring, heard what he was about and apparently decided that this was exactly what they needed.

That changes the equation. Babcock has been handed something every coach wants: permission. Now comes the hard part.

It’s one thing for the best players on the team to say they want accountability before the season starts. It’s another thing entirely when it's Game 67, the Oilers are struggling, McDavid has made a bad defensive read, and Babcock decides he needs to sit for a shift. That's when we'll find out what “accountability” actually means in Edmonton.

It’ll be worth watching what happens when things get dicey on the ice later in the season.

A coach doesn't really establish authority by yelling at the fourth-line winger. Everybody knows who has the most to lose there. The real test comes when the coach has to make a difficult decision involving the players the organization simply cannot afford to upset. Babcock now has McDavid and Draisaitl telling him they want exactly that.

If he takes them at their word, Edmonton could become a fascinating experiment in what happens when the best players in the room voluntarily give a coach permission to coach them hard. And if they really mean it, there shouldn't be a double standard.

The interesting question isn't whether Babcock can be tough. We already know he can. The interesting question is whether everyone in Edmonton—including the biggest stars—will still want him to be when it gets uncomfortable.

That's where this experiment really begins.

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