Leon Draisaitl said the Edmonton Oilers’ leadership group gets called out when it falls short under Mike Babcock, and that the players asked for the harder edge. The Oilers forward spoke after Friday’s practice on Long Island, and his comments were shared on X by Janson Duench of The Athletic.
“You’re getting called out on whatever you’re not doing right to help the team win. We’ve asked for that, we need that, we wanted that, and we’re getting it. And that’s a good thing. I think we all understand within our group that no one is allowed to do anything more than anyone else. Yes, of course, your top-end guys, they might have a little bit of a longer leash when it comes to offense. But at the end of the day, our identity and the way we play, we’re all gonna play the same way.”
The question was about accountability inside the leadership group, and Leon Draisaitl described a demand the core had made rather than one imposed on it. Connor McDavid said the same in June, in an interview with TSN’s Ryan Rishaug after the hire:
“He’s going to hold guys accountable. He’s going to hold me accountable. It starts right at the top.”
Edmonton fired Kris Knoblauch on May 14 after a 41-30-11 season ended with a six-game, first-round loss to the Anaheim Ducks, and hired Babcock on June 23.
The approach has already reached the lineup. Babcock scratched Jake Walman for Wednesday’s 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames, and NHL.com’s projected lineup lists the defenseman as a scratch again for Saturday’s game at the New York Islanders. Walman, in the first season of a seven-year, $49 million contract, has one point and a team-worst minus-7 rating.
“It sends a message that you’ve got to be on your game every night,” Mattias Ekholm said Friday. “This coaching staff has done a good job of keeping guys accountable. That’s what that is.”
Leon Draisaitl says top players get a longer leash on offense only
Leon Draisaitl’s leash line is narrower than a call for identical roles. He accepted that Edmonton’s stars will take more risks with the puck and get more room to create. What Babcock holds them to is the part that does not change with talent.
“If you have effort and you don’t have structure, you’re not playing together,” Babcock said. “You’ve got to arrive as five everywhere; you’ve got to play together.”
Edmonton takes a 9-2-2 record into the game at UBS Arena, which starts at 2 p.m. ET.
Edited by Sonali Verma
