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Hello hockey fans, Max Bultman here, filling in as the 2026 offseason reaches its final days. We know the season is close because we’re finally hearing from the game’s biggest stars, as the NHL’s European Player Media Tour took place over the weekend. That offered a chance for some insight into the summer’s biggest topics. Let’s go.
Let’s Hear It
Draisaitl backs Babcock
The Edmonton Oilers are set to be even more under the microscope than usual this season — quite a statement for a team that’s been to two of the last three Stanley Cup finals, and quite a season to welcome in The Athletic’s newest NHL beat writer, Janson Duench.
That’s mostly because of the ticking Connor McDavid clock. The game’s best player is chasing a championship while the franchise that drafted him 11 years ago works to prove it can surround him with enough help to win it. In pursuit of that goal, the Oilers made one of the most eye-raising moves of a very busy summer, hiring Mike Babcock as head coach, three years after he flamed out of an attempted NHL return in Columbus less than 90 days after being hired, and before his first season with the Blue Jackets even began.
Add in Babcock’s history with Mitch Marner and Johan Franzen, and the sight of him getting another shot, this time trying to get two of the league’s biggest stars over the hump, is a massive story to follow.
But speaking with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston in Munich, one of those stars, Leon Draisaitl, explained how Babcock won over the team’s leadership group with an honest meeting.
“It was pretty clear pretty quick that he could be our guy,” Draisaitl told Johnston. “Just in what he sees, and his attitude towards us — you know, the leaders on the team that want to be coached and that want to be held accountable. I think it’s just what was needed. We had some great meetings with him and then, yeah, it just kind of took off from there.”
In some ways, the sentiment from Draisaitl and the Oilers’ stars of wanting to be pushed harder and be held more accountable is impressive, perhaps admirable. But Babcock’s history makes him a lightning rod, and it’s fair to wonder if the Oilers are fully ready for everything that will come with the hire. A whole lot is riding on it.
Tim Stützle. (James Guillory / Imagn Images)
Stützle, Seider speak
Speaking of German stars and their teams’ newsy summers, young Atlantic Division foes Tim Stützle and Moritz Seider spoke to Johnston about the Senators’ and Red Wings’ biggest offseason topics.
Ottawa, of course, saw its captain, Brady Tkachuk, traded to Florida — a hit to the Senators’ physical presence and scoring ability. But while Stützle is obviously aware of that, he wisely focused on turning the page and the new players Ottawa brought in, headlined by talented young winger William Eklund.
It looks as though the Senators could be in for a major identity shift from the punishing, pugnacious brand of hockey Tkachuk was so central to, to perhaps a faster brand led by Stützle and Eklund. But even after dealing their captain, the Sens still have an elite team defense, excellent young centers and a path to remaining an upstart young team in the East. Fascinating franchise.
Meanwhile, Seider also tried not to dwell on a chaotic summer for his franchise — keyword tried, considering so much of the Red Wings’ uncertainty remains unresolved. They still don’t have a general manager — they’re the only team without one — and Dylan Larkin’s trade request twists in the wind in the interim.
The 25-year-old Seider turned his focus inward, talking about how he can keep improving after a top-five finish for the Norris Trophy last season: “There are a lot of question marks. The great thing about that is you can only control yourself.” Here are his full answers.
Because of all the moving parts, Detroit’s outlook is cloudier than the Senators’ right now. But Seider is one thing the next general manager won’t have to worry about at all in their first year.
- More from Munich: NHL players’ union boss Marty Walsh is bullish on the 2030 Olympics, and league deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL is on track to award its 33rd franchise to Texas — either Houston or Austin — as soon as the end of the year. Giddy up.
Brady Tkachuk, left, and his brother, Matthew. (Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
Trivia Time
NHL captains aren’t traded very often, especially if you exclude in-season deals like the Florida Panthers’ 2025 deadline acquisition of Brad Marchand. But the Panthers will be hoping their Tkachuk deal goes just like another offseason trade from semi-recent history (think this millennium), in which a re-homed captain immediately won the Stanley Cup in his first year with his new team.
Who was that player?
Hint: He was the same age (26) as Tkachuk is now.
Answer at the bottom.
Young Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini. (David Gonzales / Imagn Images)
Crystal Ball
Who will rule in 2031?
After Corey Pronman rolled out his pipeline rankings last week, he added a new wrinkle: a projection of what the NHL standings could look like five years from now, when all those farm systems and young players are finally in the NHL.
That, of course, adds some weight back to the league’s current heavyweights that may not have star-studded farm systems: Florida, Carolina, Tampa and Minnesota all still make the top 10 on this list, despite being in the bottom 10 of Pronman’s pipeline rankings.
Still, the No. 1 team on both lists was the same: 2031 is shaping up to be a good time in San Jose.
A quick peek at the top five in the 2030-31 rankings:
- San Jose Sharks
- Montreal Canadiens
- Utah Mammoth
- Buffalo Sabres
- Toronto Maple Leafs
Check out the full list to see where your team slots in.
Coast to Coast
💰 Even more coverage from Munich! Lukáš Dostál on Leo Carlsson’s megadeal and its impact on the Ducks: “Money has to go somewhere … I’m just so happy for Leo.”
🤪 Missing Sean McIndoe? Get your fix here, where he digs into your wackiest ideas at the height of slow-news summer. I like the word/letter game.
📋 While the Red Wings’ GM search continues, the list of semi-urgent tasks for the eventual hire isn’t getting any shorter.
🏒 Scary news out West, as Arizona State University is investigating the circumstances surrounding an outdoor workout that led to a men’s hockey player collapsing. Katie Strang and Jeremy Rutherford have more here.
🏅 Murat Ates and Jesse Granger dive into Connor Hellebuyck’s strangely human NHL season in 2025-26, and what to expect from him going forward.
🎙️ “The Athletic Hockey Show” Prospect Series spent the week exploring Corey Pronman’s redrafts of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Watch or listen here.
Mike Richards in 2012. (Louis Lopez / Associated Press)
Trivia Answer
Who was the captain who was traded by his former team in the summer and then won the Cup in Year 1 in his new home?
That would be Mike Richards, who did it with the Los Angeles Kings after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in June 2011.
Questions, comments, corrections? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at redlight@theathletic.com.
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