Oilers will 'always be the most prepared team' under Babcock, Hyman says

Zach Hyman knows what to expect from coach Mike Babcock. 

The Edmonton Oilers forward previously played for Babcock with the Toronto Maple Leafs and endorses the hiring of the 63-year-old in the pursuit of the Stanley Cup. 

“He’s a demanding coach, but I always found he was very honest with his approach and every time you step out there, you know exactly what your role is and what you need to do to help the team be successful,” Hyman said Thursday. “There is no gray, it’s very black and white and you’re held accountable. If you don’t do something, it will be shown on video the next day. 

“I think it’s just very clear, he’s very smart and he’s very good with the details of the game. You’ll always be the most prepared team, and you’ll always be ready to play.”

Hyman played for Babcock for five seasons, beginning in 2015-16, prior to the coach being fired by Toronto on Nov. 20, 2019, and replaced by Sheldon Keefe. 

Hyman is going into the sixth of a seven-year, $38.5 million contract ($5.5 million average annual value) he signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 28, 2021. The 34-year-old, along with Oilers captain Connor McDavid and center Leon Draisaitl, met with Babcock prior to Edmonton hiring him and associate coach D.J. Smith on Tuesday. 

“I think it was important for him to talk to us and obviously I’ve had a previous relationship with him," Hyman said, "and everything was discussed: The past, the present in regard to how the team did this year and how he could help us win and get to the next level. It was a really good meeting, it was a very open meeting, nothing was left unturned and everything that needed to be said was said and that was it. 

“We did video in regard to how his teams like to play and what his vision is, and it resonated with the guys in that room.”

Babcock has not been on an NHL bench since he was fired by Toronto 23 games into the 2019-20 season. He was hired to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1, 2023, but resigned prior to the start of the season five days after the “Spittin' Chiclets” podcast reported that he asked players to share personal photos on their private mobile devices. The situation was investigated by the NHL Players Association earlier in the week before Babcock announced his resignation. 

The NHL cleared Babcock on June 18, allowing him to return to coaching after investigating the situation in Columbus. 

“You have D.J. Smith who’s there as an associate coach who has worked with ‘Babs’ in Toronto," Hyman said, "and D.J. is a phenomenal coach and he’s coached almost 400 games in the NHL himself (340) and has very good temperature of the locker room and players. So I think there is someone in the coaches’ room, as well as (assistant Paul McFarland), you have two coaches that worked with ‘Babs’ that know his style and if there’s anything, they know when to step in and know how to help ‘Babs’ with whatever he needs help with. And as players, we want somebody to come in that can keep us accountable.”

Hyman said Babcock is the right coach at the right time for Edmonton, which was eliminated by the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference First Round after reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, losing to the Florida Panthers each time. 

The Oilers believe their championship window is still open with McDavid going into the first of a two-year, $25 million contract ($12.5 million AAV).

The three-time Hart Trophy winner voted as the League’s most valuable player, five-time Ted Lindsay Award winner as most outstanding player as voted by his peers, and six-time Art Ross Trophy winner as scoring champion, is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2028. 

“I think the team that we have in Edmonton is different than the team we had in Toronto," Hyman said, "but having said that, I think his MO, if you look at all the teams that he’s coached, the players lower in the lineup have a role and everybody feels important and everybody feels they’re contributing to the team, because at the end of the day that’s how you win.

“You look at (the) Carolina (Hurricanes), you look at Florida, you need everybody contributing, you need everybody feeling important because they are and you don’t win unless you have the entire team pulling on the same rope and guys that know exactly how to play and exactly what do to and exactly how to be successful when they’re out there.”

In an interview with TSN on Wednesday, McDavid said he also welcomes the change in coaching style Babcock will bring to Edmonton. 

Babcock replaces Kris Knoblauch, who was fired May 14, after three seasons and two trips to the Final. Babcock will be McDavid’s sixth coach in Edmonton and Draisaitl’s eighth. Babcock will be the fourth coach Hyman has played for with the Oilers, following Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft and Knoblauch. 

“It’s something that we’ve never had in Edmonton. ‘Babs’ is going to be different, he’s going to hold guys accountable,” McDavid said. “He’s going to hold me accountable, and it starts right at the top and it starts with me and I want him to do that. 

“It starts with Leo and it moves down to (defenseman Evan Bouchard) and (Hyman), (forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) and everybody. We want him to be hard on the top guys, and we want him to make everybody else better, including us too. We want to be better; we need to be better. We’re excited about it, it’s a new challenge.”

Babcock is 12th in NHL history with 700 wins and 17th with 1,301 games coached in 17 seasons with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto. He coached Canada to the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2014 Sochi Olympics and helped it win the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

He won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008 and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Final in seven games the following season. 

Babcock’s first head coaching job in the NHL was with Anaheim in 2002-03, and guided the Mighty Ducks to the Final, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games.

“Obviously ‘Babs’ is a very polarizing figure," Hyman said, "and I think if you just look at him as a hockey coach, he’s brilliant, he’s one of the best coaches in the game in my opinion. He’s detailed, he’s tactical, he’s everything you want as a head coach, he keeps his best players accountable. He’s won at every level. 

“Sure, he hasn’t coached in a while, and there’s all these things about not making it past the first round (in Toronto) but I think from ownership to management to players, we’re all on the same page that he was the guy.”