Leon Draisaitl is already talking up Mike Babcock, and the Oilers' new head coach hasn't run a single practice yet.
Speaking to Sportsnet on Friday, Draisaitl said Babcock is going to bring a different attitude and mentality to the group.
He added that everyone in the room is excited and looking forward to working with him.
Draisaitl closed last season with 97 points in 65 games, adding 35 goals and 62 assists while going plus-13.
General manager Stan Bowman made the hire official on June 23, bringing in a coach who's won a Stanley Cup and coached some of the league's biggest names before.
Edmonton finished 41-30-11, good for 93 points and second in the Pacific. It didn't stop the franchise from bringing in a new voice behind the bench this summer.
Babcock's past complicates the fresh start in Edmonton
Here's the thing nobody in that photo op wants to say out loud. Babcock's last two stops, Toronto and Columbus, both ended with questions about how he ran a room, not just how he ran a power play.
Handing him a locker room built around Connor McDavid and Draisaitl is a little like putting a mechanic with recalls back under the hood of a car everybody's counting on. He knows the engine. The trust part is the question.
Can a coach with that history actually change the way he communicates with a group this talented, this fast?
McDavid isn't going anywhere either, coming off a 138-point season with 48 goals and 90 assists split across an injury-shortened final stretch of games.
Draisaitl's comments read like a player trying to set the tone early, get ahead of the noise before training camp even opens.
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Whether that goodwill survives October is a completely different story, and Edmonton fans have been burned by good vibes in August before.
Is hiring Mike Babcock a smart gamble or a mistake waiting to happen for the Oilers?
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