The Edmonton Oilers have hired Mike Babcock as their next head coach, the team announced Tuesday, days after he was cleared by the NHL to coach again.
Babcock returns to an NHL bench after what was nearly a three-year hiatus. He resigned from the Columbus Blue Jackets in September 2023 before even coaching a game following public criticism over his request to look at the personal photos from players' phones.
Once it became public that the Oilers were looking at Babcock, the NHL Players' Association requested an investigation into Babcock's resignation. The league determined Babcock was cleared to coach in the NHL.
Sources told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that the investigation included several videoconference interviews with former Blue Jackets players.
"The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock's tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith," the NHL said in a statement last week. "Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment to the League."
The NHLPA said in a statement that while it found the allegations around Babcock's conduct to be "very concerning," they expect he "will uphold the high standards required of NHL coaches."
Sources told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that the Oilers' core leadership group had been consulted about Babcock's potential hiring and that they provided input to management.
Hiring Babcock comes a little more than a month after the Oilers fired Kris Knoblauch, who led the team to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 2024 and 2025 before they lost in the first round this season. Knoblauch was set to start a three-year extension this July.
Initially, the Oilers were interested in hiring Bruce Cassidy. The Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup with Cassidy in 2023 but fired him in late March with eight games remaining in the regular season.
With Cassidy still under contract through next season, the Golden Knights withheld permission to the divisional rival for an interview.
It led the Oilers to turn their attention elsewhere, which is what eventually led to them hiring Babcock, 63.
Babcock's time in the NHL has seen him win 700 games while in charge of the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. He has reached the playoffs in all but three seasons.
He emerged from his time in Detroit as arguably the best coach in the NHL. He led the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup in 2008 and guided them to the playoffs in each of his 10 years. He would then head to Toronto where the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs in his first season but advanced to the postseason for three straight years. They never made it out of the first round and Babcock was fired after a 9-10-4 start in the 2019-20 season.
Babcock is also the only coach in history to have won a Stanley Cup, an Olympic men's hockey gold medal (two for Canada in 2010 and 2014), an IIHF Men's World Championship and the World Cup of Hockey.
But some former players have recently spoken out about Babcock's old-school tendencies that some say can be considered bullying.
Retired defenseman Mike Commodore, who played for Babcock briefly in 2011 in Detroit, spoke out this spring.
"I don't want to hear another word about how important mental health is for us when you literally just paved the way, cleared the way for Mike Babcock to get another opportunity in the NHL and put him in another position of power where he can abuse people," Commodore said on the "Clearing the Crease" podcast.
Daniel Winnik, who played for Babcock in 2015-16 with the Leafs, last week called him "the only guy that's ever made me hate hockey."
"I just hated coming to the rink," Winnik said on TSN 1050 Radio in Toronto on Thursday. "He's just a bully."
By hiring Babcock, the objective for the Oilers is that he can guide the club to its first Stanley Cup since 1990 and use that victory to sway captain and superstar center Connor McDavid into staying with the club for the remainder of his career.
McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's most valuable player, signed a two-year extension with the club that commences at the end of the 2027-28 season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Babcock is the 10th coach the Oilers have hired in the past 15 years, the sixth coach since they drafted McDavid with the first pick in 2015 and the eighth coach for Leon Draisaitl, who was drafted third in 2014.
Shortly after announcing they hired Babcock, the Oilers also stated they hired D.J. Smith to serve as an assistant coach. Smith had recently been the interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. He guided the Kings to an 11-6-6 record to finish the regular season before they were swept in the first round.
Smith began his coaching career as an assistant under Babcock when they were with the Maple Leafs. Smith was then hired as the head coach of the Ottawa Senators in May 2019.
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.