Red Light newsletter 🏒 | This is The Athletic’s hockey newsletter. Sign up here to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.Hello hockey fans, Max Bultman here, filling in as the 2026 offseason reaches its final days. We know the season is close because we’re finally hearing from the game’s biggest stars, as the NHL’s European Player Media Tour took place over the weekend. That offered a chance for some insight into the summer’s biggest topics. Let’s go.Let’s Hear ItDraisaitl backs BabcockThe Edmonton Oilers are set to be even more under the microscope than usual this season — quite a statement for a team that’s been to two of the last three Stanley Cup finals, and quite a season to welcome in The Athletic’s newest NHL beat writer, Janson Duench.That’s mostly because of the ticking Connor McDavid clock. The game’s best player is chasing a championship while the franchise that drafted him 11 years ago works to prove it can surround him with enough help to win it. In pursuit of that goal, the Oilers made one of the most eye-raising moves of a very busy summer, hiring Mike Babcock as head coach, three years after he flamed out of an attempted NHL return in Columbus less than 90 days after being hired, and before his first season with the Blue Jackets even began.Add in Babcock’s history with Mitch Marner and Johan Franzen, and the sight of him getting another shot, this time trying to get two of the league’s biggest stars over the hump, is a massive story to follow.But speaking with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston in Munich, one of those stars, Leon Draisaitl, explained how Babcock won over the team’s leadership group with an honest meeting.“It was pretty clear pretty quick that he could be our guy,” Draisaitl told Johnston. “Just in what he sees, and his attitude towards us — you know, the leaders on the team that want to be coached and that want to be held accountable. I think it’s just what was needed. We had some great meetings with him and then, yeah, it just kind of took off from there.”In some ways, the sentiment from Draisaitl and the Oilers’ stars of wanting to be pushed harder and be held more accountable is impressive, perhaps admirable. But Babcock’s history makes him a lightning rod, and it’s fair to wonder if the Oilers are fully ready for everything that will come with the hire. A whole lot is riding on it.Tim Stützle. (James Guillory / Imagn Images)Stützle, Seider speakSpeaking of German stars and their teams’ newsy summers, young Atlantic Division foes Tim Stützle and Moritz Seider spoke to Johnston about the Senators’ and Red Wings’ biggest offseason topics.Ottawa, of course, saw its captain, Brady Tkachuk, traded to Florida — a hit to the Senators’ physical presence and scoring ability. But while Stützle is obviously aware of that, he wisely focused on turning the page and the new players Ottawa brought in, headlined by talented young winger William Eklund.