Babcock has scratched $10.85 million of Oilers, and he's right

Look, I've been waiting 20 years for a coach to bench a guy for being bad at hockey and say it out loud. Mike Babcock has now healthy-scratched $10.85 million worth of Oilers in one week, by our count, and he's right both times.

Here's the bill. Jake Walman is in year one of a seven-year deal at $7 million a season. He sat Wednesday against Calgary and is expected to sit again Saturday afternoon on Long Island. Trent Frederic, at $3.85 million a season through 2032-33, sat last weekend against Toronto.

Walman: D. One assist in nine games and a minus-7. His ice time has slid from 16.4 minutes on opening night to 13.3 on Monday, per NHL data. That's not a top-four defenseman. That's a guy getting phased out one shift at a time, like a Blockbuster.

"I see those clips over and over and over again," Babcock said. Buddy, I'm begging you, give the man a different clip. Something with a first pass that hits a teammate.

Frederic: D-minus. One goal in 12 games, and that came in a 9-7 game in Vancouver where the goaltenders apparently left at the first intermission. He's gone 10 straight without a point, by our count, averaging 9.6 minutes a night.

Bruins tax: Boston watched Frederic for years and is not shocked. We'd like the record to show we were early.

Here's the surprising part. The room is publicly backing the coach, which almost never happens in October. Usually the room waits until January to start leaking.

"It sends a message that you've got to be on your game every night," Mattias Ekholm said.

Leon Draisaitl went further: "I think we all understand within our group that no one is allowed to do anything more than anyone else, right?" Translation from Edmonton to English: if the coach will sit $7 million, he'll sit you.

The results: B-plus. The night Frederic sat, Edmonton lost 7-2 to the Leafs, which proves nothing except that Toronto can still win a game before Halloween. The night Walman sat, the Oilers shut out Calgary 4-0. One for two. In Boston, that's a contract extension.

The Oilers are 9-2-2 and 5-0 on the road, by our count. Their power play is operating at 35.7%, which is ridiculous. Their penalty kill is at 71.4%, which is the number Babcock should be furious about, and probably is.

Not a real award: The Most Valuable Player Who Is Not Being Benched Award goes to Connor McDavid. He has 36 points in 13 games and a point in every single one of them, per NHL data. Twenty-eight of those are assists. He's playing like somebody double-parked the Zamboni.

Now the part nobody wants to say. Babcock's accountability message only works if it reaches the expensive guys who aren't McDavid. So far, so good. The first time a $9 million winger floats through a road game and dresses the next night anyway, the whole speech becomes a motivational poster in the weight room.

"Now, I'm not trying to pretend life is fair," Babcock said. Neither am I. Seven years at $7 million was never going to be fair to somebody.

Babcock's week: A-minus. Docked a half-grade because the PK still leaks. I said what I said.