Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is ready to welcome Mike Babcock's hard-nosed approach, even if he's subject to some criticism himself.
"I know (Babcock) alluded to the fact that it's easy to say in June - and it is easy to say in June. It might be a little bit different when it's November. But we've all agreed that this is what we want," McDavid said, per Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "This is what we're looking for. I don't plan on having that happen to me very much. But when it does, it'll be deserved, and we'll move forward, and we'll learn from it."
In his introductory press conference Tuesday, Babcock acknowledged he met with McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman prior to being hired to discuss the play style he plans to implement. The 63-year-old is famously tough on players, but McDavid said he's ready for a stern voice behind the bench.
"It's time to have that happen in Edmonton. It's time," McDavid said. "I'm excited about that challenge to be pushed by a coach. Because it's been a really long time in Edmonton."
The Oilers fired Kris Knoblauch after a first-round elimination this postseason despite guiding Edmonton to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals the two seasons prior. Babcock will be McDavid's sixth head coach since being drafted first overall in 2015.
Babcock had been out of the NHL since a brief stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023. However, he stepped down as head coach before training camp after being accused of invading team members' privacy, adding to a long list of reported issues with players throughout his career.
One of Babcock's hallmarks as a head coach is distributing ice time as evenly as possible throughout the lineup. Although McDavid and Draisaitl have regularly been among the most deployed forwards in the NHL in years past, McDavid said he'll sacrifice whatever it takes if it translates to playoff success.
"There's not much we can prove in the regular season, there's just not," McDavid said. "What's another scoring title? A Hart or a Lindsay? You know, it's all nice stuff, but the only thing we have left to prove is that we can put it all together."
McDavid won his sixth scoring title and fifth Ted Lindsay Award this season. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy after leading the league with 138 points.
