Leon Draisaitl Wants Mike Babcock to Hold Everyone Accountable, Stars Included

The Edmonton Oilers are heading into a pivotal season with a coaching change that has generated plenty of buzz around the hockey world. After back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, followed by a frustrating first-round exit at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks last spring, the Oilers decided they needed a different voice behind the bench. That voice belongs to Mike Babcock, and if you listen to Leon Draisaitl talk about it, the players didn't just accept the hire. They helped make it happen.

Speaking at the NHL's European Player Media Tour in Munich, Draisaitl gave a detailed look at how the Babcock era came together and why he believes the 63-year-old coach is exactly what this group needs right now. Before the Oilers pulled the trigger on the hire, Draisaitl and the rest of the team's leadership group sat down with Babcock for a candid, no-holds-barred conversation. Nothing was off limits, and given Babcock's complicated history, there was a lot to cover.

Why the Oilers' Stars Are Embracing a Tougher Approach

Babcock hasn't coached in the NHL since being let go by the Toronto Maple Leafs 23 games into the 2019-20 season. He was briefly hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023 but resigned before the season even started after a report surfaced alleging he asked players to share personal photos from their phones. The NHL and NHLPA both investigated and cleared him in June. Still, the baggage is real, and the Oilers knew they had to address it head-on before moving forward.

Draisaitl said the meeting with Babcock was refreshingly honest on both sides. The players asked all the tough questions that media would ask, and Babcock didn't dodge any of them. He also offered candid feedback about the team itself. According to Draisaitl, it didn't take long for the leadership group to feel confident that Babcock was the right fit.

"It was pretty clear pretty quick that he could be our guy," Draisaitl said. "Just in what he sees, and his attitude towards us, the leaders on the team that want to be coached and that want to be held accountable. I think it's just what was needed."

What stands out about Draisaitl's comments is how openly he's welcoming the idea of being pushed harder. He specifically noted that accountability under Babcock won't be reserved for depth players or guys fighting for roster spots. The expectation is that it applies to everyone, including himself and Connor McDavid.

"I think he's got a very clear plan, and I think he holds guys accountable, and I think to him, it's not about who it is when it comes to accountability," Draisaitl said. "We're looking to be coached. We're looking to get better. And I sometimes deserve to be yelled at too, just like anyone else does. I don't think Babs is going to care overly much who we are in terms of that."

That's a meaningful statement from one of the best players in the world, and it speaks to a real shift in mindset for this group. Under Kris Knoblauch, who was fired on May 14, the Oilers benefited from a calm, player-friendly approach that helped them reach two consecutive Cup Finals. But last season exposed a lack of identity and consistency that the team couldn't shake. Edmonton finished 41-30-11, never truly stringing together a dominant stretch, and Draisaitl admitted the group never found its game over 82 games.

"You see it every year, the teams that are good, there's a pattern that they create and build over 82 games," he said. "They know what their game is. And I think we kind of missed that. We never really found what we were as a group."

Draisaitl pointed to the 2024 Oilers team that went to Game 7 of the Cup Final as an example of a squad that had a clear identity, one that was built during the regular season and became second nature by the time the playoffs arrived. Last year's version never got there, and injuries in the postseason only made things worse.

A Fresh Start With New Faces and High Stakes

The coaching change is the headline, but the roster has been overhauled as well. Veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse was traded to the San Jose Sharks on July 1 after 11 years in Edmonton. Goaltender Frederik Andersen, fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with the Carolina Hurricanes, was brought in as a free agent. Draisaitl acknowledged that losing long-time teammates is tough but said change was necessary for everyone involved.

Draisaitl himself is coming off a down year by his standards. He was limited to 65 games and finished with 35 goals and 97 points, well below the pace he set over the previous four seasons when he averaged 50 goals and topped 105 points each year. The silver lining of an early playoff exit is that he's had time to rest and get healthy, and he sounds like a player who is ready to prove that last season was an outlier.

Beyond the top end of the roster, Draisaitl emphasized that the Oilers need more contributions from players throughout the lineup. He and McDavid were among the most heavily used forwards in the league again last season, with McDavid leading all forwards at 22:59 per game and Draisaitl sitting fourth at 21:35. For this team to take the next step, Draisaitl believes other players need to carve out defined roles and take real ownership of them.

"We just need everybody to fill into some holes," he said. "Just need everybody to find some roles that they take really big pride in. It's a new coach, and there's going to be lots of opportunity for other guys to leave a mark. I think that will create some competition and then hopefully make us a better team."

The big question, of course, is whether the summer enthusiasm translates once the games start and the pressure mounts. It's one thing to welcome accountability in August and another to embrace it when Babcock is on you in the middle of a tough November stretch. Babcock's track record includes a Stanley Cup win in Detroit in 2008, two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, and 700 career NHL victories, but it also includes a reputation for methods that rubbed some players the wrong way. The stakes are sky-high for both sides. Babcock knows opportunities like this don't come around twice, and the Oilers know their championship window won't stay open forever.

Edmonton opens preseason on September 19 against the Winnipeg Jets and kicks off the regular season on September 29 against the Vancouver Canucks. By then, we'll start to see whether the words from Munich carry any weight when the puck actually drops.