September 30, 2026 by Ryan Lotsberg

In their 2026-27 season opener, the Edmonton Oilers scored five goals and got a combined eight points from Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard. They also allowed two breakaway goals (including a short-handed goal) and two other odd-man rush goals and got sloppy goaltending from Tristan Jarry. The result was a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.

If new Oilers head coach Mike Babcock didn’t know what he signed up for when he took the job, he’s well aware now. The poor puck management in the offensive zone, the rush chances against, the goaltending that isn’t strong enough to compensate for the other things… They’re all familiar occurrences for Oilers fans, but they represent a starting point for Babcock in Edmonton. These are the problems that have plagued the Oilers through the tenures of multiple coaches before him. Now it’s Babcock’s turn to take a stab at tightening things up.

If you read Bruce Curlock’s 2026-27 Oilers tactical preview (which I recommend), you’ll notice that Babcock is choosing to use a 1-1-3 neutral zone system. Jay Woodcroft used the same system at the start of the 2023-24 season when the Oilers went 3-9-1 before he was fired. The Oilers were struggling with rush chances against, and I felt that system made it far too easy for opponents to get through the neutral zone with possession quickly. They might as well have rolled out the red carpet into their zone for their opponents because they didn’t offer any resistance. We saw that play out again last night with the three five-on-five rush goals the Oilers allowed on Tuesday night.

McDavid, Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman were all excited about getting Babcock because they “want to be coached”, as McDavid put it. McDavid told Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas that the Oilers will be the most prepared team in the league because of how detailed Babcock is. Draisaitl has praised Babcock’s open communication style multiple times. Hyman, who was recently named an assistant captain for the Oilers, was coached by Babcock with the Toronto Maple Leafs and he has also praised Babcock publicly since the hiring was made. The Oilers’ leaders want to be pushed, they want to be challenged, and they believe that Babcock is the man to do that for them.

I wish I could’ve heard Babcock in the locker room after a performance that he described as “ridiculous” to the media after the game on Tuesday, and I wish I could watch their next practice because I expect Babcock to give the players what they want. They looked like they needed it after their home opener. They didn’t look prepared and their details were far from polished.

Babcock and Oilers GM Stan Bowman talked about the need to ensure that everyone has a role and the bottom of the roster players feel like they’re a bigger part of the team upon Babcock being hired in the summer. McDavid (15:22) and Draisaitl (14:40) both had less than their typical average 5v5 ice time, which is half of making sure everyone else plays more of a role than they have in the past.

Related: Reaction to the Babcock hiring – Part 1: The off-ice issues

Mathieu Joseph and Colton Dach both played over thirteen minutes at 5v5, and they were first and third respectively among Oilers forwards in penalty killing time. The third member of their line, Max Jones, played a respectable 12:18. 

Here’s the issue though: last season, there were only five forwards that played over 13:56 at 5v5 per game according to Natural Stat Trick. On Tuesday night, there were four forwards that played over 13:55. The ice time distribution wasn’t really that much different. The third line might’ve gotten an extra shift over what the third line got last season, but that’s about it.

Ike Howard (9:22), rookie Owen Michaels (8:09), and Trent Frederic (7:54) all played less than ten minutes of 5v5 hockey. Howard got a little bit of time on the second powerplay unit to bring his total ice time up to 11:06, but you can’t tell me that line felt like they had much of a role in that game. Joseph and Dach were penalty killers. Jones didn’t play on special teams, but he knows his role is to run around and be physical. Michaels might as well not have dressed, and Frederic is being paid far too much to be a grocery stick in a depleted forward lineup. 

Yes, it was only the first game and training camp was much shorter than usual this season. I realize that the Oilers are already dealing with a rash of injuries (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jason Dickinson, Matt Savoie, Mattias Janmark, Alec Regula, and Frederik Andersen) that has left their forward lineup in shambles. I realize that it will take time for Babcock to understand all of his players and for them to get used to his coaching style. Roles for players will take shape over the course of the season.

Related: Reaction to the Babcock hiring – Part 2: The hockey aspect

Having said all that, it doesn’t look like much has changed with this iteration of the Oilers. Their problems are the same as they have been for years and years. We should expect better play with improved health, but we’ve seen all these problems arise with healthy lineups over the years.

Taking a little bit of ice time away from McDavid and Draisaitl is the only true sign of a different approach being taken so far this year. I’m not encouraged by what I saw against a Canucks team that’s supposed to be irrelevant on Tuesday night. Expect a slow start as the Oilers get used to their new bench boss and while their injured players are out.

Dickinson is skating and Nugent-Hopkins is only supposed to miss two weeks; but Savoie is out for eight weeks and Andersen will be out until at least December. Babcock has given the classic responses about injuries creating opportunities for others, but the reality is that the Oilers are using a true professional rookie and a winger that hasn’t played centre since junior as their bottom six centres for the time being and they’re missing a winger that finished last season in the top six for two months.

Perhaps the ice time distribution will change once Nugent-Hopkins and Dickinson are back, but we won’t know that until we see it. This group might ultimately get comfortable in Babcock’s system, but there are no guarantees of that. For now, they will have to rely on the superstars to outscore the mistakes at the other end of the ice. 

Some things never change.