![\"Edmonton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2273093952-e1783083877878.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Oilers made NHL history with recent move.<\/p>\n
The Edmonton Oilers made NHL history during the offseason with their recent move.<\/p>\n
Edmonton hired Mike Babcock as their head coach, and he hired his longtime assistant DJ Smith as an assistant coach. Smith had previously served as the head coach of the Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings<\/a>, so he brings in plenty of experience.<\/p>\n Although Smith has been an assistant to Babcock previously, NHL insider Nick Kypreos reported that he\u2019s set to earn $1 million and is the first assistant coach to ever make more than $1 million.<\/p>\n \u201cDJ Smith has become the highest-paid assistant coach in NHL history, cracking the $1 million mark. It came down to Toronto and Edmonton; there\u2019s a sense Jim Hiller was pushing for him; in the end, they wouldn\u2019t match Edmonton\u2019s money,\u201d Kypreos said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smith earning $1 million is good for the rest of the assistant coaches in the NHL, as their numbers should start to soon reach that number as well. But, for now, the former NHL head coach remains the only assistant to earn seven figures as he adds more experience to the Oilers\u2019 bench.<\/p>\n As a head coach, Smith went 142-160-38 and made the playoffs just once, getting swept in his lone season as the Kings\u2019 head coach.<\/p>\n Babcock Explains Decision to Join Oilers<\/p>\n Babcock had been out of the NHL for years after he didn\u2019t even make it to training with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as he was accused of going through players\u2019 phones.<\/p>\n So, before the NHL and NHLPA launched an investigation, he stepped down and started his retirement. Yet, the Oilers\u2019 ownership wanted Babcock to be the head coach, and after talking with the team\u2019s star players, including Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and others, he felt like it was a good spot for him to return.<\/p>\n \u201cStan said when I sat in the meeting with him, Jackson and Harrison [Katz], after three and a half hours, it was very evident that there was an alignment there,\u201d Babcock said<\/a>. \u201cWe went back and forth on what we had to do to become championship material, and I left that meeting thinking, \u2018This is pretty good.\u2019 When I sat down with the players, that was just phenomenal. So the interaction with star players who want nothing more than to win and tell you how they\u2019re willing to change and adjust to make that happen is pretty exciting for a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Babcock, meanwhile, said he had to make sure all the players were all-in on winning before returning to coaching.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were all committed to winning, and in that time period, we had gone through enough things and talked about enough that they felt comfortable with the process, or I wouldn\u2019t be here. I was very clear to them: unless you\u2019re 100 percent all in on Mike Babcock, I have no interest in being the coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Babcock is 700-418-19-164 (19 ties) in his NHL coaching career and won the Stanley Cup in 2008.<\/p>\n Edmonton Active in Offseason<\/p>\n The Oilers, meanwhile, were active this offseason in changing over their roster after last year\u2019s disappointment.<\/p>\n Edmonton\u2019s offseason moves, so far, are as follows:<\/p>\n Acquire Shakir Mukhamadullin\u00a0and\u00a0Zack Sharp from the Sharks for Darnell Nurse \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Oilers made NHL history with recent move. The Edmonton Oilers made NHL history during the offseason with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":["post-777836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAcquire goalie Devon Levi and a 2028 7th-round pick from the Sabres for a 2028 3rd-round pick.
\nSign goalie Frederik Andersen to a one-year, $1 million deal, and can earn up to $2.8M.
\nSign Mathieu Joseph to a one-year, $1 million deal.
\nInk defenseman Ryan Shea to a five-year, $20 million deal.
\nRe-sign Kasperi Kapanen to a one-year, $2.6 million deal.<\/p>\n