And lest we get too "poor baby" about it, really I think the biggest thing that concerns me about the Babcock move—and makes me respect every member of the Oilers' core less tbh—is how the consequences will trickle down. Which they know. If (when) hiring Mike Babcock bites the Oilers in the ass, Leon Draisaitl has $100 million and star power most other Oilers don't have. He also has a union, which is launching an investigation to try and protect all players—not just the good ones—from abuse and negligence.
I would argue that the core is comfortable with this decision exactly because they know they will be insulated from the worst of Mike Babcock's coaching style, much like Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski were in Columbus. But affiliate callups who don't have the star power to say, "Fuck you, you aren't going through my phone" weren't in that meeting, and they're going to feel it the most.
Which is more chilling when you remember that Stan Bowman was banned from the league because he and other Hawks execs ignored allegations from an affiliate callup that their video coach had sexually assaulted him. And Jonathan Toews can swear up and down he didn't know anything about the allegations, but I don't believe him.
Furthermore, this belief that abusive behavior gets results will trickle down—much like the Aldrich situation did—until it reaches regular middle class kids, who will learn at a very young age that having boundaries is antithetical to being a team player, and that your skill and performance determine whether you are entitled to things like "privacy" or "protection from sexually predatory behavior."
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