New head coach Mike Babcock and associate coach D.J. Smith have spent training camp teaching Edmonton Oilers players a new way of doing things, which is hardly unusual. Any new boss, on a hockey bench or otherwise, arrives with fresh ideas and expectations. Even so, the transition can catch players off guard, as Oilers defenceman Conor Murphy explained Friday after practice as the team prepared for its final pre-season game Saturday night against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place. “Coming in right away, you see the nerves on guys,” Murphy told reporters at Edmonton’s Downtown Community Arena. “(Babcock) has an aura about him with his resume and how accomplished (he is) and all the storylines that everyone gets into when he’s coming in.” Still, Murphy said the experience has quickly begun to feel routine. “(He’s) a coach that wants to come in and implement accountability, implement systems. It all feels like the same thing that way,” he said. “Some of the wording, messaging and drills are different, but at the end of the day, it’s hockey. It’s a coach trying to get the best out of us. We want that.” Babcock and Smith were hired in June to replace Kris Knoblauch, who was fired in May after the Oilers were eliminated in six games by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs. Star centre Leon Draisaitl said “it’s going to take some time” to adjust to Babcock’s system. “We played the same system for a while, and this is completely new,” Draisaitl said. “We have no choice but to be dialled in as much as we can early on. It’s the same for every team, but certainly I think it’s going to take a couple of weeks for it to become instinctual.” Babcock, a veteran coach with a Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals on his resume, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, aside from a brief pre-season stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets three years ago. He resigned before training camp amid allegations he had infringed on players’ privacy, which were investigated by the NHL Players’ Association. The NHL cleared the 63-year-old former Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs coach in early June after conducting its own investigation. Team trims camp roster Connor Clattenburg will begin the 2026-27 season in the American Hockey League, but if Babcock’s comments are any indication, the rugged forward figures to be back in Edmonton at some point. The six-foot-two, 219-pound winger turned heads with his physical play during a five-game stint with the Oilers last season. Clattenburg recorded a team-high five hits and blocked a shot in his lone pre-season appearance Thursday, a 2-1 victory in Vancouver. “I loved the way Claddie started the game and sent a message (by running) over somebody, and then we end up winning the game,” Babcock told reporters Friday, adding Clattenburg needs “to work on his skill set” in Bakersfield. “He’s a part of the future for sure.” Clattenburg was one of 10 players reassigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on Friday. The group included forwards Quinn Hutson, Viljami Marjala, William Nicholl, Aku Raty and Eduard Tralmaks, defencemen Josh Brown and Tomas Cibulka, and goaltender Connor Ungar. The Oilers also returned prospects Rudolfs Berzkalns, Caden Harvey, David Lewandowski and Andrew Robinson to their junior teams Friday, while Seth Griffith was released from his professional tryout.
