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Oilers’ Colton Dach breaks silence on playing for Mike Babcock after contract extension
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- Oilers’ Colton Dach breaks silence on playing for Mike Babcock after contract extension
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Oilers' Colton Dach breaks silence on playing for Mike Babcock after contract extension appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
At the trade deadline during the 2025-26 season, Colton Dach was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Edmonton Oilers . Recently, Dach and the Oilers just agreed to a two-year dea l that will keep the 23-year-old with the team through 2027-28.
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Now that he has a new contract, Dach is focused on impressing his new head coach , Mike Babcock, according to Derek Van Diest of NHL.com.
"Obviously, I was pretty young when (Babcock) was a coach with Detroit and Toronto, but I think his coaching style will fit my game pretty well," Dach said. "I'm a guy that goes out there and gives it my all and works hard and shows my work ethic. It's going to be hard, heavy minutes and it's something I'm going to be excited for."
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Dach played in just eight games for the Oilers in the regular season, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Still, he averaged just 10:08 of ice time per game. He also played in five playoff games, registering an assist, but also saw his playing time decrease to just 8:26 per game.
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"I think for myself personally, it's trying to gain that trust with the coaching staff and up my minutes a bit and prove to them that I can be a good 200-foot player," he said. "Obviously, it's always nice to contribute offensively and hopefully those numbers can go up from last year and I'm trying to work on my game this summer to help do that."
Dach also understands Babcock's expectations with the Oilers. The Oilers went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025, but were eliminated in the first round this past year. Meanwhile, Babcock has been to the Stanley Cup Final three times as a coach, including winning a Cup in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings.
"It's always nice to come into a team that is trying to win right now and wants to win so badly," he said. "It's fun to come to the rink when you're winning. That's what makes this game so awesome, you get to come in, and you get to be with your friends and your brothers and battle with them and compete and at the end of the day, it's awesome to have that."
The Oilers will open their quest for the cup with a pre-season contest against the Winnipeg Jets on September 19. Their regular season schedule will be released with the rest of the NHL schedule this week .
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