The offseason has already gotten off to a noteworthy start for the Blue Jackets, who announced Thursday that head coach Rick Bowness will return for the 2026-27 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
President of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell will have a busy few months ahead, but one of the biggest things on his plate is now taken care of. Now he\u00a0has to\u00a0attack a bevy of contracts that need signed, prepare for the draft, and look at which players may be available in free agency and on the trade market to improve a team that fell just shy of the playoffs for a second straight season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So\u00a0what to make of a disappointing end of the season, as well as where things might go from here now that Bowness\u00a0remains\u00a0in the fold?\u00a0Here\u2019s\u00a0three takeaways about the start of the Blue Jackets offseason.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Players Wanted Rick Bowness<\/p>\n
As the Blue Jackets packed their bags, said\u00a0goodbyes\u00a0and got ready to return home for the summer, there was one order of business that\u00a0seemingly had\u00a0to be attended to, and that was the status of Bowness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Waddell noted, his exit interviews with players \u2013 conducted separate from Bowness, to ensure honesty, or at least\u00a0to avoid\u00a0a player being afraid to speak candidly \u2013 revealed a consensus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets wanted Bowness back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Defenseman Damon Severson called him \u201cthe best coach I\u2019ve personally ever had,\u201d while the rest of the CBJ players spoke about how much they appreciated both Bowness\u2019 passion and the attention to detail he brought as a coach. So it\u2019s not hard to surmise that the coach\u2019s return was met with excitement in the locker room. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s an excellent\u00a0coach,\u201d Mason\u00a0Marchment\u00a0said. \u201cHe\u00a0came in and really put a good structure around this team, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just too bad with the injuries and stuff like that, not being able to get it done, but especially for him coming out of retirement. We all want to win for him. …\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0a great person, a great coach, and he cares. He really does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Bones,\u201d center Adam\u00a0Fantilli\u00a0added before the announcement was made. \u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0done a lot for me, and I appreciate it. If\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0back,\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0be\u00a0really excited\u00a0to get started again with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We could keep going, as\u00a0Waddell said \u201cto a\u00a0man\u201d\u00a0the Blue Jackets players told him that they hoped the coach returned for the 2026-27 season.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0perhaps not\u00a0a huge surprise considering the team posted a 21-11-5 record under the longest-tenured head or assistant coach in\u00a0NHL\u00a0history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets made major strides defensively under\u00a0Bowness, going from allowing 3.38 goals per game \u2013 28th\u00a0in the NHL \u2013 before the coaching change to\u00a0fourth in the league\u00a0at\u00a02.68\u00a0per game. His ability to get the team to play a high-tempo, structured game was one of the biggest reasons for the team\u2019s turnaround from last\u00a0place\u00a0in the Eastern Conference\u00a0to one that was in the playoff race until the final days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition, the coach\u00a0earned rave reviews almost\u00a0immediately\u00a0for\u00a0the relationships\u00a0he built with his players,\u00a0born from\u00a0daily\u00a0locker room chats and\u00a0check-ins\u00a0with players\u00a0on the ice before\u00a0practice. That authentic nature also came\u00a0through with the media\u00a0when Bowness made his now-famous quotes after\u00a0the regular-season finale, but many players saw it as an example of the fire to win he brings\u00a0on a daily basis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very passionate,\u201d Charlie Coyle said. \u201cYou want to play for a guy like that. Was it a bit warranted? Yeah, of course it was. He\u2019s a guy who I\u2019ve loved playing for, still love playing for, and he cares so much. You can tell it in the way he talked and spoke. Was he emotional? Of course he was. But we\u2019re all disappointed. We all feel some of those emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, I just saw a guy who cares so much and wants to better this team and everything around it, so I can\u2019t really complain about that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What To Learn\u00a0From\u00a0Season\u2019s End<\/p>\n
The biggest question that will haunt the Blue Jackets during the summer months\u00a0will be what happened during the\u00a02-8-1\u00a0finish\u00a0the season, and you can\u00a0come up with\u00a0several reasons for the swoon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Injuries to Mathieu Olivier (the team\u2019s best forechecker and an identity player who was a third of the team\u2019s best two-way forward line), Severson (a puck-moving defenseman who settled in nicely on Werenski\u2019s right) and Dmitri Voronkov (a netfront force who could have helped the offense down the stretch) were certainly factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps a team that played 26 games in the last 48 days ran out of gas, or at least didn\u2019t have enough time to regain its bearings once things got off kilter in the race to the finish. Struggles on special teams (the power play was at 11.1 percent, the penalty kill at 61.5) and in the third period (Columbus was outscored 19-4) also couldn\u2019t be overcome during the last 11 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And one of the biggest issues might have been good, old-fashioned\u00a0bad puck\u00a0luck\u00a0when it came to finishing scoring chances.\u00a0According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets\u00a0created 33.95 expected goals \u2013 a measure of shot quantity and quality \u2013\u00a0in the last 11 games but scored just 21\u00a0times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest issue we had in a couple of those tough games wasn\u2019t how we\u00a0played,\u00a0we were just unable to finish,\u201d Bowness said. \u201cThe puck just\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0going in. A couple of games, like the Winnipeg game and the game in Carolina, we did absolutely nothing offensively so\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0no reason for the puck to go in. But other than that, the analytics, when we started to get those chances and shots back up, they were there where they were earlier. And the difference was the puck just\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0go in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There might have been another factor\u00a0at\u00a0play, as well.\u00a0A couple of the veteran players noted in their exit interviews that as focused on the day-to-day grind as the Blue Jackets were when Bowness took over, they might have lost a little bit of that sharpness as they worried about playoff positioning in the final weeks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Bones took over,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not like we told ourselves, \u2018Hey, we have to win 25 of the next 30-whatever games to make the playoffs,\u2019\u201d\u00a0defenseman Zach\u00a0Werenski said. \u201cWe just focused on the process, focused on\u00a0how we had to\u00a0play\u00a0and we frustrated teams and we played our game. The only thing that mattered was the game in front of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like the last few weeks,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0human nature. Everyone starts talking about\u00a0playoffs and percentages\u00a0and chances, and\u00a0maybe you\u00a0forget about the next game and the process and\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0in front of you. I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0for all the right reasons. We all wanted to be in a playoff\u00a0spot\u00a0and get that \u2018X\u2019 next to our name. I feel like it disconnected our group a little bit in terms of on-ice play.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Erik Gudbranson\u00a0added the difference\u00a0was noticeable\u00a0between being the hunters,\u00a0as the Blue Jackets were at the end of the season a year ago,\u00a0and the\u00a0hunted\u00a0this time around.\u00a0While no one wants to sit here and talk about learning experiences\u00a0after six straight years out of the postseason \u2013\u00a0they’d\u00a0rather be playing playoff hockey\u00a0at the moment\u00a0\u2013\u00a0there is something to be said\u00a0about having to find out what it truly takes before knowing how to do it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to keep playing and stick to the process,\u201d Olivier said. \u201cI think we might have strayed away from that a little bit, and that\u2019s what hurt us in the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taking The Next Step<\/p>\n
We now know\u00a0Bowness will be back, but\u00a0things\u00a0aren’t\u00a0about to get any easier for Waddell.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eight players who spent time with the Blue Jackets this year \u2013 captain Boone Jenner, alternate captain Gudbranson, Coyle, Marchment, Danton Heinen, Zach Aston-Reese, Brendan Gaunce and Brendan Smith \u2013 are set to become unrestricted free agents. Waddell also must sign restricted free agents Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, Jet Greaves and Egor Zamula.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0hefty\u00a0task before Waddell even considers\u00a0changes he hopes to make to the roster,\u00a0but\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0get into that\u00a0part\u00a0tomorrow. The biggest thing that\u00a0the Blue Jackets discussed on their way out was \u201clearning how to win,\u201d a topic that was a hot-button issue given the way the season ended and Bowness\u2019\u00a0postgame comments Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In many ways,\u00a0the head coach\u00a0seemed like he was delivering a message and setting a tone right away for the upcoming season, and now\u00a0he\u2019ll\u00a0have the chance to pick up right where he left off when the team reassembles in September.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re good guys,\u201d Bowness said. \u201cThey are.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0a tight group. They care about each other. But now when I go after them in October and November, I can tell them, \u2018You can\u2019t do this in March and April like we talked about last year.\u2019 If\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going through a tough spell and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0trying to tell them, \u2018You can\u2019t do this, you\u2019re not\u00a0gonna\u00a0get away with it in the playoffs,\u2019 now I have a reference\u00a0point to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking back at the whole of the 2025-26 season, the Blue Jackets did a lot of good things, including increasing their point total for the fourth consecutive season. Two of the team\u2019s lines became dependable forces,\u00a0Werenski turned in a Norris Trophy-caliber campaign, and\u00a0several\u00a0other players stepped up to help the team become the hottest squad in the NHL at one point.\u00a0Columbus led the fourth most\u00a0minutes during games of any team in the league, showing\u00a0the\u00a0squad was right there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the Blue Jackets cost themselves too many points with a slow start, a tough finish, inconsistent special teams\u00a0and far too many\u00a0third-period\u00a0leads lost. Next year will be about taking the next step, and the lessons of where this season went wrong will have to be learned from the drop of the\u00a0first puck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to grind every game, and we did so many good things this year getting leads,\u201d\u00a0Severson said. \u201cYou\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0just sit back. You\u00a0have to\u00a0go push for that next goal. You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to do anything crazy. You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to worry about guys putting up numbers or anything. Everybody is\u00a0gonna\u00a0be so much\u00a0happier\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0gonna\u00a0be so much better off as a team if at the end of\u00a0the\u00a0night\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0celebrating a win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a process we\u00a0have to\u00a0learn, but we have a lot of\u00a0guys in\u00a0here I\u00a0firmly believe\u00a0are\u00a0gonna be part of the solution, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0only up for us\u00a0going\u00a0forward.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0obviously been a\u00a0tough couple years, but we look forward to hopefully turning that narrative around next year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The offseason has already gotten off to a noteworthy start for the Blue Jackets, who announced Thursday that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5108],"tags":[3644,5180,897,230,5179,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-557970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-columbus-blue-jackets","8":"tag-blue-jackets","9":"tag-bluejackets","10":"tag-columbus","11":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","12":"tag-columbusbluejackets","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116448606519544795","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}