A major twist just leaked involving Mike Babcock and new details are emerging

Connor McDavid and Kris Knoblauch are still tied to Edmonton's coaching mess while the Mike Babcock review drags on.

That is the bad news in plain terms. The NHL review is still ongoing, there is no decision, and there is no timeline for when this ends.

So the Oilers are sitting in the worst spot for a win-now team. They opened a huge coaching file, pushed toward a controversial name, and still do not have a bench answer.

The pressure is on Edmonton because this was never supposed to turn into a waiting game. The Oilers fired Knoblauch on May 14 and named nobody to replace him that day.

Then the Babcock chatter took over. Reports said Edmonton was exploring him, and the NHLPA specifically asked for a delay until a formal investigation could be completed.

That is where the search started to look sloppy. A team built around McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should be selling clarity in June, not watching a review process swallow the story.

Marty Walsh's reported line matters too. David Pagnotta relayed that Walsh said managers and owners hire coaches, not players, while confirming the NHL review is ongoing and that no timeline has been set.

" On the Oilers/Mike Babcock situation…

NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh tells us on @SiriusXMNHL just a few minutes ago said that the “managers and owners hire head coaches, not the players.”

Adds the NHL is now going through their investigation, no timeline has been set. "

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A surprising new development just changed the Mike Babcock conversation

Because the longer this sits, the worse Edmonton looks. Frank Seravalli already described the search as impatient and circus-like, and this update does nothing to quiet that feeling.

Babcock is not a normal candidate. The concern around him goes back to his short Columbus stint in 2023, when an NHLPA investigation followed allegations tied to his interactions with players' personal photos.

That history is exactly why there is no easy fast-forward button now. Edmonton can like the coach, but the league and the union are clearly treating the file with more care than a standard hire.

Meanwhile, the Oilers are still exposed. Every day without a coach invites more noise around Babcock, more second-guessing around Stan Bowman, and more questions about whether the club should have pivoted sooner.

That is what makes this update hit. “No decision, no timeline, no update” is not neutral for Edmonton. It is another day of drift for a team that cannot afford to drift.

If the review clears the way, the Oilers still have a path. But until that happens, this stays what it already looks like from the outside: a stalled coaching search wrapped around the most controversial name on the board.

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