Timing Of the Mike Babcock Pursuit by Oilers Feels Fishy

The Edmonton Oilers hiring Mike Babcock feels like a near reality, with the only roadblocks being NHLPA and league approval. Reports on Monday refer to Babcock as “the guy” the Oilers have chosen. He’s got the resume, the gravitas, and the stamp of approval from ownership and the players.

But then again, it sounded like that’s how the Oilers felt about Bruce Cassidy.

It was only a few short days ago that the Oilers were waiting on the Stanley Cup Final to finish so that they could find out if the Vegas Golden Knights would grant permission to interview him. It wasn’t happening now, and maybe Vegas would drag things out, but nobody except Vegas knew, with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly even saying, “We’ll see what happens when the season is over.”

The season isn’t over, yet the Oilers have pivoted. Instead of waiting just a few days to find out for certain whether Cassidy is out of the picture, Edmonton has interviewed, met with, and spoken with the players and with Babcock. If the league approves the hire, the announcement could be made before the Cup Finals are over.

So what the heck happened?

What Did the Oilers Learn Over the Past Few Days?

Did the Oilers learn that Vegas was never going to say yes? Given that the Golden Knights have maintained their desire to focus on the playoffs, that seems unlikely. At best, it feels more like a gut feeling than an official “It’s never happening.”

Did Edmonton have a change of heart? Maybe the Oilers have watched the playoffs and the job John Tortorella has done with the Vegas and concluded that Cassidy was the problem. That seems unlikely, too. Given how reportedly gung-ho they were to hire Cassidy, that’s a big change over the course of a week or two.

Was it about winning? Probably not exclusively. Sure, Babcock has won before, but it’s been a long time. Cassidy has won too, and much more recently.

Did the Oilers and the players like Babcock and everything he had to say? This might be the most likely explanation, but what would have been the harm in waiting to see if you could talk to Cassidy and compare his responses? Maybe you’d have liked him just as much, if not more? After all, Babcock wasn’t going anywhere. The Oilers are the only team even contemplating hiring him. He’d have remained available in two days, two weeks, or two months.

The other possibility is that this is about term and money. We can assume Babcock will come in at a fraction of the time and salary Cassidy would. Investing $25 million in Cassidy while still paying Kris Knoblauch on a three-year contract extension might have been a tough pill to swallow for Daryl Katz. If Babcock is a one-and-done and comes in around $1 -$2 million so he can get his foot in the door to coach again, money and commitment might have ruled the day.

Something Changed the Oilers Thoughts on the Coach

Something happened here. Somehow, the Oilers went from being patient to see what Cassidy’s future would hold to not wanting to wait. Stauffer’s sh– or get off the pot take doesn’t fly, given that all the Oilers had to do was wait another week. If the playoffs had ended and Vegas still didn’t budge, then make the decision.

It’s hard to know how long the Oilers have been talking to Babcock and when this became a real thing. It likely wasn’t in the last 24 hours. Still, it’s hard to imagine this choice was made a month ago. It was recently, and that means something changed between then and now when it came to Cassidy.

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