Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock is both being praised and criticized for a controversial decision he's made to start the 2026-27 season. Choosing to put Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line, it stacks the top line but makes the depth of the Oilers much weaker.
The plan has worked for McDavid, Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin — all of whom are off to a record-setting start — but a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday has people questioning how long the dynamic duo can stay together.
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Even Babcock admitted it's not something he's always wanted to do.
Did the Hot Start Keep Babcock Employed by Oilers?
While some have been critical of the choice not to split those two up, not everyone faults Babcock for the move. The Oilers will take on the Detroit Red Wings Monday night and a former Oilers bench boss is now running Detroit's bench. Todd McLellan praised the move.
He explained
:
"There will be times where you have to pull them apart. They won't always be on fire, and you will shake things up and try to get other players going, but I think Mike made a great decision to play them together at the beginning of the year. He hasn't had a need to take them apart. It was a good decision because they find their game quickly, there are 8-2-1 and a new coach wants to establish a go-to pair that gets a team off to a good start. I think my good friend Woody (Jay Woodcroft) and Kris (Knoblauch) probably aren't standing here, maybe myself too, because of bad starts. So a lot of good reasons for Babs to do it."
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In other words, McLellan suggested that Babcock is doing the right thing, if for no other reason than the hot start has helped him secure his employment.
Will Babcock Keep McDavid and Draisaitl Together?
Whether the 8-2-1 start is among the reasons Babcock's tenure is being seen as an overall win thus far is debatable. Even hinting that it's kept Babcock as the Oilers coach is a stretch. That doesn't change the fact that the Oilers need more from their bottom six and might be forced into a tough decision.
"We go through everything every day. If we think there's a better way, we're going to do that. And so when is that? I don't know the answer," said Babcock on Monday as he spoke with the media. He noted, "This has been working pretty good, and I thought we were set up to have success on Saturday night, and we didn't. So let's bounce back today and figure it out as we go."
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That top line will stay together on Monday. Babcock said he wouldn't normally keep any line together this long and really never has. He attributed part of that decision to several injuries on the Oilers roster, which left him really shorthanded. Those injuries haven't really slowed down.
Babcock would like to reduce the minutes for both players first. From there, he'll decide if there's a better way to deploy them and if separate lines is the solution.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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