What I know and what I think I know before the NHL Draft

Let's drop some thoughts and notes in here before they are out of date.

Stealing a bit of the playbook from my pal Bob Sturm today, I’m setting a one-hour timer and trying to get as much down as possible on what’s happened in the NHL the past few days.

So, let’s get into it.

Mike Babcock is back in the NHL, he’s coaching the Edmonton Oilers and, frankly, showed very little remorse or even understanding of his past transgressions at his introductory press conference yesterday.

In fact, when asked about what happened with his brief time in Columbus, Babcock resorted to an answer where he said it was his wife’s idea to step away from the Blue Jackets, and not related to anything else.

It’s a sad state of affairs, honestly, because from a coaching perspective it’s been well documented that Babcock is a bully who demeans his players. There are numerous stories to look up, and while the Oilers were flaunting his championships in their presser yesterday, the reality is below the top players, he’s horrible to work for.

Connor McDavid, who allegedly was involved in this process, will be fine. But he’s helped sentence some of his teammates and the Oilers depth players to a pretty horrific existence if Babcock’s tone in his opening presser is truly indicative of who he still is.