Mike Babcock has been cleared to coach again in the National Hockey League.
The league announced an investigation into Babcock as requested by the NHL Players’ Association has been completed, allowing the 63-year-old to return to an NHL bench.
“The League has completed its review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, and of certain alleged conduct associated therewith. Our investigation has concluded that, even in a light least favourable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the League,” the NHL said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
According to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, details on a contract for Babcock with the Edmonton Oilers are being nailed down. However, barring a last-minute rush, Rishaug reports not to expect a news conference until early next week.
“While we found the allegations of Mike Babcock’s conduct as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ head coach very concerning, the League has decided that there is no current basis on which to restrict his employment. Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches,” the NHLPA said in a news release issued Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this month, TSN Hockey Insider Dreger reported the Oilers consulted with the NHLPA to see if there were any objections that needed to be resolved before they could potentially hire Babcock as head coach. The Oilers are currently the only team without a bench boss after firing Kris Knoblauch at the end of the season and have been heavily linked to Babcock in the past week.
According to Dreger, NHL executive vice president and chief of security Jared Maples, along with a league-assigned lawyer, handled all interviews in the league’s recent probe. The NHLPA also had representation throughout the interview process.
The investigation was in regard to allegations Babcock invaded players’ privacy during his brief time with the Blue Jackets in 2023.
Babcock was hired as the Blue Jackets’ head coach in July of 2023 but resigned before the season started after a report from the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast indicated he had asked players to share personal photos from their mobile devices.
The situation was investigated by the NHL Players’ Association before Babcock announced his resignation.
Babcock owns a career regular-season head coaching record of 700-418-164 with 19 ties. He also coached Team Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014, as was at the helm for gold at the World Junior Championship (1997), Men’s World Championship (2004) and World Cup of Hockey (2016).
