Mike Babcock

We'll come back.

We're going to hear from Mike Babcock, who wasn't pulling any punches today.

Rick Walters.

Some stats of the day and more.

Yeah, well, they've got to grind their piece, and they've got to get better.

Now, Dry Subtle and McDavid, and we're going to get to Todd McClellan next hour because he had some fantastic answers being a guy who coached before.

And even, you know what, he probably could have had some fun with it because remember when Mike Babcock, a few years ago, when McClellan was coaching the Oilers, they were in Toronto and Babcock, well, you know, he played those guys too much, right? And it's kind of like, hey, you know, like, worry about yourself.

But then you fast forward, and now he's coaching McDavid and Dry Subtle, and look how much he's playing them.

It was incredible on Saturday night.

You know, the way the Leafs came out, I don't know if Austin Matthews, captain of the Leafs, and obviously a member of this team when Mike Babcock left, was their head coach.

I don't know if Austin put up, like, night out on me for the boys on the whiteboard if we get the dub tonight because they came out flying.

They were relentless.

But the rest of the team, not so much.

Mike Babcock talked about the battle of the bottom sixes in that loss to Toronto, saying that the Leafs' bottom six was much better than the Oilers', much more competitive, quicker.

So, Mike...

So far, things are going pretty well for Edmonton, other than the fact that Devin Levi is hurt now as well.

Do you worry at all about Edmonton's lack of depth scoring?

Yeah, this has been an Edmonton problem for, like, ever, it feels like.

And every other coach has split up, Connor and Leon, and Mike Babcock has gone the opposite approach and, you know, gone nuclear by putting the two best players together.

And we're seeing the results offensively.

Well, maybe we're just brewing it here off and away from this matchup.

But a few years ago, Coach Babcock mentioned how Todd McClelland played Connor McDavid too much in a game.

And I believe it was about 23 minutes of ice time.

We see now that Connor is above that.

And we have Mike Babcock as the coach.

Is there any sort of tete-a-tete here tonight between McClellan and Babcock going at it for the first time this year?

Well, there's mentor and mentee, right? McClellan was on Babcock's staff in Detroit, and so there's certainly deep ties there.

Um, no, I look, I, that's a great question.

So I understand why he loaded them up right away.

Second, I think it's because it's Mike Babcock and everybody's just trusting what he's doing right now.

But we're going to hear from him in the second segment, Joaquin.

I'm not listening.

But for you, eventually, do you see them splitting up the big two at any point? Do I?

Yes, I do.

But I think under only a certain set of circumstances, will you see them split up? I think if the offense just completely dries up over the course of a few games, if they seem to be just stagnant, that's the only time I can see Mike Babcock splitting these guys up.

Look, when you look at this lineup, We said it Saturday night.

As we could see here, kicking things off, we have that top line remaining intact.

A lot of speculation surrounding that top line and how long Mike Babcock would ride it out despite the lack of offense from players outside that top line.

But Babcock, McDavid, and Drysaddle remain adamant that this is a line that they want to stick.

That second line also remaining intact despite a lack of production in the early going in Nugent Hopkins and Hyman's return.

And then we're also seeing six, seven, eight minutes per game for Ike Howard, which is just not ideal for a young forward who's looking to find his legs in the early going and in the league.

A lot of people want to see him on that second line with Ryan Newton Hopkins.

And Zach Hyman, Mike Babcock was asked about that this morning, and he said no.

I had him with him for a long time at the start in that spot, speaking of the preseason, but I haven't thought about it since.

Right.

So years ago, we were all dumping on Mike Babcock because he played him whatever it was like 17 minutes in a playoff game and stuff like that, like game after game.

But, you know, could he play a little bit more than that? Yeah, absolutely.

Right.

So I'm sure practice today is not going to be any fun, or they have a game day skate, rather, because they're playing as well tonight.

But I'm sure Mike Babcock let them have it.

Yeah, I kind of like what he said in his postgame presser.

It's like it's always funny when you see a coach, especially Babcock, trying to stay calm.

We will wait.

And we will see how Mike Babcock molds the clay anew on the long road back to grace.