Connor McDavid was asked whether he'd intervene if Mike Babcock went too far with a teammate, and the Oilers captain didn't dodge it.
Babs is there to be Babs and to coach the way that he sees fit, McDavid told Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas.
We're also a team and teammates who care about each other. If there's a place where we have to step in, of course we're going to do that.
But we would do that with any coach, he added. It doesn't matter who it is.
That last sentence is the diplomacy. The first part is the actual news.
Nobody asks a captain that question about a normal hire. Babcock arrived with an NHL investigation sitting behind him.
He resigned from Columbus in September 2023, months into the job, after asking players to show him photos from their phones.
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Mike Babcock's past puts Connor McDavid's latest Oilers comments under the spotlight
Babcock has since said he didn't think he crossed a line there, and that his wife made him resign.
Winnik played under him in Toronto during part of 2015-16. He's the only guy that's ever made me hate hockey, Winnik said.
Johan Franzen once called him the worst person I have ever met.
He also had a rookie Mitch Marner privately rank his teammates, then showed that list to the teammates.
Daryl Katz and the leadership group approved the hire regardless. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were both part of that process.
We pressed him on some things, and he pressed us on things, McDavid said. Both sides felt it was a good match.
The context explains the rest. McDavid said the organization had taken a step back, and Draisaitl said he was concerned about the direction.
He doesn't shy away from telling you straight to your face, Draisaitl said. He's a real man about it.
Edmonton finished second in the Pacific last season and went out in the first round to Anaheim.
Mark Spector already had Babcock pulling the McDavid line 15 seconds into the opener after a Draisaitl turnover. Edmonton visits Winnipeg tonight.
So what happens the first time somebody thinks a line got crossed? A captain reserving that right in public works like a prenup signed at the wedding. Sensible, and everybody noticed.
McDavid approved this hire and attached a condition to it in the same breath. That arrangement holds exactly as long as the winning does.
Was Connor McDavid right to publicly reserve the right to step in?
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