The Edmonton Oilers officially hired Mike Babcock as their head coach, the team announced Tuesday.
The Oilers also added D.J. Smith as associate coach. Smith most recently served as interim head coach for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2025-26 season. The 49-year-old began his NHL coaching career with Babcock as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015.
Edmonton reportedly began the formal process of hiring Babcock last week after the NHL cleared him to return to the league.
When the Oilers' interest in hiring Babcock was reported earlier in June, the NHLPA asked the league to investigate his brief tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023, where he was accused of invading players' privacy. Babcock reportedly asked Blue Jackets players for their phones, scrolled through their camera rolls, and projected their photos onto a larger screen. The league didn't conduct a full investigation at the time because Babcock resigned shortly after the reports were published before ever coaching a game with the club.
"Even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the league," the NHL stated after concluding its investigation Thursday.
Babcock addressed his departure from the Blue Jackets in his introductory press conference Tuesday.
"It was very evident, before the year started - I hadn't benched anybody, I hadn't talked to anybody, I hadn't sat anybody out - and it was evident that we weren't together as a staff right from the get-go," Babcock said, per TSN. "My wife gave me a call and she said, 'It's time to get out of there.'"
Babcock was last behind an NHL bench with the Maple Leafs in 2019, where he coached for parts of five seasons. The 63-year-old ranks 12th on the all-time wins list with 700 career victories. He won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and also made Cup Final appearances with Detroit in 2009 and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2003.
Internationally, Babcock guided Team Canada to gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics and is the only coach in the Triple Gold Club.
That winning pedigree was likely alluring for the Oilers, who are under a significant amount of pressure to deliver a Stanley Cup before Connor McDavid's contract expires in 2028. Edmonton made back-to-back Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025 under head coach Kris Knoblauch, but lost to the Florida Panthers each time. Knoblauch was fired following a first-round exit this past season.
Babcock said he met with McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman to discuss how he'd change Edmonton's play style if he got the job.
"When I sat down with the players, now that was just phenomenal," Babcock said, per Sportsnet. "The interaction was star players who want nothing more than to win and tell you how they're willing to change and adjust to make that happen. It's pretty exciting for a coach. I have to tell you, I went through in detail the changes that would have to be made for us to have success when it mattered."
The photo incident in Columbus wasn't the first time Babcock was alleged to have mistreated players. Multiple examples were reported after Babcock's stint with the Maple Leafs ended. In 2019, Johan Franzen, who played for Babcock with the Red Wings from 2005-15, said Babcock verbally assaulted him to the point he had a mental breakdown, calling the coach "the worst person I have ever met."
