Leon Draisaitl just handed the Edmonton Oilers another uncomfortable soundbite, and this one points straight at the old coaching staff.
The clip resurfaced this morning. He said it in front of reporters last Thursday, and it's only getting louder as opening night gets closer.
"[Our] everyday is the practices, the details, the little things that I think have gotten away from us a little bit over the last couple years."
Read it again. A star doesn't publicly say a team's daily habits slipped unless he believes nobody was holding the line on them.
The man holding that line now is Mike Babcock, hired as head coach on June 23. Stan Bowman has been the GM since July 2024, so this critique lands on his watch too.
And the words carry weight. Draisaitl counts $14,000,000 against the cap, fourth-highest in the NHL, and the locker room listens when he talks.
Nobody had to say the old coach's name. Everybody in Edmonton filled in the blank anyway.
Mike Babcock inherits a room that admits the habits slipped
It's a fair diagnosis. A little convenient too, and that part deserves some pushback.
Details don't disappear just because the whiteboard changes hands. The players on the ice own the backcheck, the stick position, the puck battles along the wall.
It's like a restaurant blaming the old chef for sticky floors. The line cooks were holding the mops the whole time.
So who, exactly, let things drift for a couple of years?
The early returns under the new staff look tidy. The Oilers won 2-1 in overtime in Winnipeg last night, their second straight win in games that don't count yet.
Draisaitl did not dress. Viljami Marjala buried the overtime winner, and defenseman Atro Leppanen scored the other goal.
In the crease, Connor Ungar stopped all 5 shots he faced to take the win. Devon Levi handled the heavier load, making 12 saves on 13 shots.
Zach Hyman led the forwards with 3 shots and picked up an assist. Small stuff, sure. But small stuff is exactly what that quote was about.
Now the schedule turns into a Vancouver marathon. Edmonton visits the Canucks on Thursday, hosts them on opening night September 29, then heads back to Vancouver on October 1.
The Canucks dropped a 3-1 decision in Calgary last night and have lost two straight. Not exactly a juggernaut waiting at puck drop.
Here's the catch. Draisaitl put the standard on the record himself, in his own voice, on camera.
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If those little things slip again in October, there's no previous staff left to point at. Just Babcock, a very expensive core, and a quote that's going to get replayed.
Is Leon Draisaitl right to pin the Oilers' slipping details on the previous coaching staff?
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