Oilers' rumored connection to Mike Babcock signifies larger NHL problem

History shows why NHL teams hire veteran coaches 

There are plenty of cases that show these coaches usually still have something to offer. Before John Tortorella's brilliant run in Vegas (21-5-1 since his first game on March 30), there was the story of Paul Maurice. No coach has lost more games in regulation than Maurice with 805. He's held that spot for years. And he was 10 games under .500 in the playoffs before his remarkable run of three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances with Florida. 

No coach since Dan Bylsma in 2009 has won a Stanley Cup without any previous NHL head-coaching experience. In the salary cap era, 15 of 20 Stanley Cup Finals have been won by a coach who had prior NHL head coaching experience with a different team.

There are perfectly valid reasons why NHL teams prefer trying to win the big one with veteran coaches. That point hit home when the Los Angeles Kings announced Monday the hiring of long-time head coach Peter Laviolette. This will be Laviolette's seventh head coaching job in the NHL, most recently serving two years as head coach of the New York Rangers from 2023 to 2025.

Why Mike Babcock wouldn't be the right hire for Oilers

Babcock, however, should be a bridge too far for any organization. Babcock is famously volatile. He was forced from his last job in Columbus before ever coaching a game or running a practice. He resigned before Columbus opened training camp for the 2023-24 season amid revelations that some younger players had felt uncomfortable with Babcock's requests to see their cellphone photos. 

That was not the first time Babcock had been connected to toxic coaching methods. In Toronto, he infamously asked then rookie Mitch Marner to rank a list of his teammates from hardest working to least hardest working. He then released the list to the public, a story confirmed by both Marner and former teammate Nazem Kadri.

Edmonton is desperate to win a Stanley Cup. And, from that perspective, you might be thinking it would be worth putting up with Babcock's toxic mindset if the return on investment is an elusive championship and an ability to settle the concerns that the league's best player, Connor McDavid, may force his way out of Edmonton.

Babcock, though, hasn't won a playoff series since 2013. He hasn't coached an NHL game since being fired 23 games into the 2019-20 season. There's no body of evidence to suggest Babcock can mimic the success of Tortorella in Vegas. Even if you draw the parallel, the resume points more favorably to Tortorella. He'd only been out of coaching for a year when Vegas hired him in March. He also had three playoff series wins — including perhaps the single greatest series upset of all time in 2019 — during the same stretch of time as Babcock's last series win. 

Hiring a coach who has very little to show for his reputation is one thing. Hiring one whose reputation brings enormous baggage at a time when the entire organization is on pins and needles is a reflection on a general manager like Bowman.