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Mike Babcock and D.J. Smith are instilling new systems and accountability as Edmonton Oilers head coach and associate coach during training camp.
New head coach Mike Babcock and associate coach D.J. Smith have spent training camp teaching Edmonton Oilers players a new way of doing things. The team is preparing for its final pre-season game Saturday night against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place. The transition has caught some players off guard, but the focus is on implementing accountability and systems.
Babcock Brings New Approach to Oilers
Oilers defenceman Conor Murphy explained Friday after practice that the new coaching staff has made an immediate impression. He said that coming in right away, you see the nerves on guys because Babcock has an aura about him with his resume and accomplishments. Murphy spoke at Edmonton’s Downtown Community Arena.
Still, Murphy said the experience has quickly begun to feel routine. He described Babcock as a coach that wants to come in and implement accountability and systems, adding that it all feels like the same thing. Some of the wording, messaging and drills are different, but at the end of the day, it is hockey. It is a coach trying to get the best out of us, and we want that.
Babcock and Smith were hired in June to replace Kris Knoblauch, who was fired in May after the Oilers were eliminated in six games by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs.
Draisaitl Expects Adjustment Period
Star centre Leon Draisaitl said it is going to take some time to adjust to Babcock’s system. He noted that the team played the same system for a while, and this is completely new. Draisaitl added that they have no choice but to be dialled in as much as they can early on, and that it is the same for every team, but certainly he thinks it is going to take a couple of weeks for it to become instinctual.
Babcock, a veteran coach with a Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals on his resume, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, aside from a brief pre-season stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets three years ago. He resigned before training camp amid allegations he had infringed on players’ privacy, which were investigated by the NHL Players’ Association. The NHL cleared the 63-year-old former Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs coach in early June after conducting its own investigation.
Oilers Trim Training Camp Roster
Connor Clattenburg will begin the 2026-27 season in the American Hockey League, but if Babcock’s comments are any indication, the rugged forward figures to be back in Edmonton at some point. The six-foot-two, 219-pound winger turned heads with his physical play during a five-game stint with the Oilers last season. Clattenburg recorded a team-high five hits and blocked a shot in his lone pre-season appearance Thursday, a 2-1 victory in Vancouver.
Babcock told reporters Friday that he loved the way Claddie started the game and sent a message by running over somebody, and then they ended up winning the game. Babcock added that Clattenburg needs to work on his skill set in Bakersfield, but he is a part of the future for sure.
Clattenburg was one of 10 players reassigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on Friday. The group included forwards Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala, William Nicholl, Aku Raty and Eduard Tralmaks, defencemen Josh Brown and Tomas Cibulka, and goaltender Connor Ungar. The Oilers also returned prospects Rudolfs Berzkalns, Caden Harvey, David Lewandowski and Andrew Robinson to their junior teams Friday, while Seth Griffith was released from his professional tryout.
Mike Babcock Edmonton Oilers D.J. Smith Leon Draisaitl Connor Clattenburg Calgary Flames Bakersfield Condors
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