We’ve heard it time and again this summer: the Edmonton Oilers were looking for a different type of coach when they brought in Mike Babcock. The word that has resurfaced in articles and interviews has been accountability; the team’s leadership felt they needed more of this from their coach to get over the finish line.

There will be more to Mike Babcock being a “different type of coach,” though; holding the players accountable will be one part of it, but what other decisions will he make that are different from coaches of the past?

Previous Oilers coaches have been criticized for riding the superstars too hard. And who could blame them? When you’ve got two of the best players in the world, how do you not put them on the ice? But, come playoff time, it’s crucial to have your stars as fresh as they can be so they can carry a heavier load down the stretch. Under Kris Knoblauch last season, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl averaged around 22 minutes per game. Many other star forwards average closer to 20 minutes, like Vegas’s Jack Eichel, Toronto’s Auston Matthews, and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. Those two extra minutes take their toll over the course of a season, not only on the guys playing the minutes but also the guys forced to spend extra time on the bench. Having a more even split throughout the lineup keeps everyone involved, allows for more contributions up and down the lineup and keeps your stars fresh.

When Mike Babcock last coached in Toronto, this was clearly the strategy. No forward averaged above 20 minutes per game. Even the splits between defencemen were more even, with top-minute man Morgan Reilly hovering around 23 minutes per game. A change like this was one of the........

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