NHL clears Mike Babcock to return to coaching, but it's still a bad idea for Oilers

The list of allegations against Babcock is concerning and covers each of his three previous stops in the NHL.

The most recent of those allegations, and the one that kept him out of the league, revolved around his attempt to view the phones and private photos of Columbus Blue Jackets players during his initial meetings with the team.

As soon as those allegations surfaced, Babcock resigned from his position without having ever coached a practice, let alone a game with the team.

The Blue Jackets had no comment regarding the NHL's latest investigation or its decision. 

What made the allegations with Columbus so concerning is that his time with the Maple Leafs ultimately came to an end in part due to a situation involving Mitch Marner. When Marner was a rookie, Babcock made him rank the work ethic of his teammates, then shared those results with Marner's teammates. It was overly cruel, toxic treatment of a rookie that had no real role in player development or coaching. 

That followed a situation with the Detroit Red Wings where Babcock's treatment of forward Johan Franzen resulted in him having an emotional breakdown on the bench and locker room. It was a situation so egregious that Franzen's teammates at the time, including Chris Chelios, spoke on the record about how alarming it was.

This does not even even get into the extensive list of former players who have publicly criticized Babcock as a person and for his coaching techniques. 

All of this made Babcock a near-pariah among head-coaching candidates, while it seemed almost impossible to believe another team would hire him.

The Oilers seem to be on the verge of doing the impossible.

It's especially eye-opening when you consider the Oilers' current general manager, Stan Bowman, also went through a phase where he was out of the NHL in a disgraced manner for his role in covering up the Kyle Beach sexual assault situation with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2009-10 season. 

Turning your organization over to two people with that sort of history is certainly a choice by the Oilers.

It's also a desperate choice.

The Oilers know they have a very limited window to try to win a Stanley Cup with superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl before both get fed up with the disappointment and potentially look for an exit. For whatever reason, they have determined Bowman and Babcock are the people to do it, despite the fact neither person has found much recent success in the NHL.

Bowman's mismanagement played a pivotal role in the premature decline of the Blackhawks dynasty, while he has pushed all of the wrong buttons so far with the Oilers.

Babcock, meanwhile, has not won a playoff series since the 2013 season and has won just one since the 2010-11 season. His most recent coaching experience is an extensive list of third-place finishes in his own division and first-round playoff exits. 

They have bad off-ice track records. They have bad on-ice results over the past decade. There has to be better options.