Oilers officially hire Babcock, add Smith — The Fourth Period
The Edmonton Oilers have officially hired Mike Babcock as the club’s 19th head coach in team history, and have named D.J. Smith associate coach.
Babcock, 63, brings to Edmonton a 700-418-183 regular season coaching record over parts of 17 NHL seasons and 1,301 games. Through another 164 games in 14 postseason appearances, he ranks 10th all-time in wins with a 90-74 record.
He is the only coach in the history of hockey to have guided teams to a Stanley Cup win, Olympic gold medal, IIHF World Championship and World Cup of Hockey title.
Smith, 49, most recently served as interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings assembling an 11-6-6 record from March 1st through the end of the 2025-26 regular-season. He had originally joined the club as an assistant in February of 2024.
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Smith began his NHL coaching career as an assistant under newly appointed Oilers head coach Mike Babcock in Toronto in 2015. After four seasons with the Maple Leafs, Smith was named head coach of the Ottawa Senators in May of 2019.
Over parts of five seasons and 317 games behind the bench with the Senators, he compiled a 131-154-32 record. His 131 wins ranks second all-time among Senators head coaches.
