EDMONTON — The Connor McDavid Era has entered be-careful-what-you-wish-for territory. Next stop, either a Stanley Cup parade or an entirely new management team, and perhaps, captain.

In a hire that has the full approval of the Edmonton Oilers' leadership group — our guess, McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm — the Oilers will name pariah Mike Babcock as their new head coach as soon as the National Hockey League signs off on the hire.

Babcock would steer the Oilers through the final phase of McDavid era, after which McDavid would sign a new contract to remain in Edmonton or move on to greener pastures if the Babcock hire blows up in Edmonton’s faces.

Babcock, 63, was grilled by the Oilers leaders in a meeting last week — asked about former transgressions and how, exactly, he came to own a reputation as the hardest of hard-ass coaches who crosses the line often enough to be black-balled since 2023— and they came away with one implicit instruction for general manager Stan Bowman:

“This is our guy. We want to be pushed.”

If that is the realization from Edmonton’s core group — that former coaches who coaxed, cajoled and worked with the leaders eventually lost the control of the team to superstars who ended up with too much say on who played where, how much and with whom — then Babcock is exactly the guy for the job.

Bravo to those for looking in the mirror and realizing that players........

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