The 2025-26 NHL season was not going the Columbus Blue Jackets’ way entering the new calendar year.
Columbus entered this season on a positive note, barely missing the playoffs last year after two consecutive last-place finishes in the Metropolitan Division. However, they found themselves in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 19-19-7 record through the first 45 games of this season.
The drop off led to the team firing head coach Dean Evason on Jan. 12 and hiring Rick Bowness out of retirement to take the reins behind the bench.
The Blue Jackets have been rolling since Bowness took over, going 19-3-4 and finding themselves in a playoff position with a 37-22-11 record entering Monday’s action.
“I’d be lying if said I was anticipating this,” Blue Jackets president and general manager Don Waddell told TSN’s First Up on Monday. “What I said to ownership when we made the change was that I just didn’t like the direction we were heading.
“I said our young players weren’t getting the development they needed, and we need our young players to grow each year. I couldn’t guarantee how many wins we were going to get [after firing Evason], but I knew that the team would be a better team for younger players moving forward.”
Bowness is a coach who has been through every situation the NHL has to offer through his 44 years of coaching professional hockey, including taking over a floundering team mid-season for a playoff push.
The 71-year-old took over the Dallas Stars in December of the 2019-20 campaign and led the team to the Stanley Cup Final that same year.
Waddell credits Bowness’ ability to communicate with the team not just on the ice, but on an individual level as the reason for his success.
“Rick’s a great communicator,” said Waddell. “What I can point to is that though he treats these hockey players as athletes, as he should, he [also] treats them as people. I just felt that his communication skills [are great] not only as a group, but individually. He can tell them what he expects out of them.
“Players needed this and wanted this, and we’ve gotten the results. The players are having fun again, they want to be at the rink, and they enjoy playing for Rick.”
As the team excelled in the New Year, Waddell and his management group had to decide which direction the team was going to go as the NHL trade deadline approached.
Columbus has five players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, including key pieces like captain Boone Jenner and forwards Mason Marchment and Charlie Coyle.
The Blue Jackets elected to keep their pending UFAs and also added forward Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks as the team makes a push for the playoffs.
Garland had seven goals and 26 points in 50 games with the Canucks prior to the trade and was attractive to the Blue Jackets because he has a six-year, $36 million extension kicking in at the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
The 5-foot-10 winger has five goals and six points in nine games since joining the Blue Jackets.
“When we went to the trade deadline, I told our staff that we’d like to add to our team, but we don’t want to give up assets for another UFA,” said Waddel. As the cap moves forward, cost certainty is going to be important, especially for our franchise.
“We have a great history with [Garland], I’ve seen him play for the United States at the World Championships, [Zach] Werenski played with him there, and we’ve obviously seen him in the NHL. We had a good book on him, not just as a player, but as a person.”
As the regular season comes down to the stretch drive, Waddell stresses that his team should only be worried about their play on the ice and not to focus on the teams around them in the standings.
They are coming off a tough 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday and have 12 games remaining to cement their position for the playoffs.
“Our focus is to win games. If we don’t, we can scoreboard watch all we want but it’s not going to help,” said Waddell. “If we take care of our business and do what we know we can do, that’s going to help.”