EDMONTON — A month into the Mike Babcock era, we’re still waiting for a more telling exchange than the one our Elliotte Friedman had with Leon Draisaitl the day before training camp opened.

Friedman: “What’s the most honest thing Mike Babcock has said to you so far?”

Draisaitl: “I hate your changes.”

We’ve all hated Draisaitl’s line changes here in Edmonton — but only for about 12 seasons and 856 career NHL games. Yet, it’s Babcock who watched some summer video and brought that back as his first take as Draisaitl’s new coach.

Blunt. To the point. And when it comes to things hockey related, usually right.

That is what they told us we’d be getting when the Oilers pulled Babcock out of coaching purgatory this summer, and so far, the advanced billing has been spot on.

It’s become a funny place over the years, Edmonton, where the level of deference to the top players has existed on a sliding scale with how good those top players are. No one’s top players are as good as Edmonton’s, and as such, at times they were allowed at times to run amok.

A decade without a Stanley Cup provided grounds for reflection, however, and so Connor McDavid, Draisaitl and Zach Hyman somewhat orchestrated the hiring of Babcock, pulling him out of enforced retirement........

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