Most NHL teams find their groove as the season goes on. Chemistry is developed. Systems are in place. Unless there’s a sudden change, most coaching staffs are in order.
The Columbus Blue Jackets just went through what seemed like a sudden change. They became the first team in the NHL in 2025-26 to make a coaching change.
The Blue Jackets still have hopes that they can make something out of this season. GM Don Waddell went through a few different options indicating there is still belief. They’ve made trades. They’ve signed players. Now they’ve hired Rick Bowness to replace Dean Evason.
Imagine for a moment if you are a player in that situation. On one hand, it’s exciting to know that despite how poor the season has been overall, management still believes in them.
But on the other hand, the Blue Jackets now have to face a reality of striking a fine balance. They need to qualify for the playoffs while learning a new coach and his style on the fly. That’s not easy.
The challenge becomes even greater knowing the Blue Jackets have 36 games to do this all in. They have to jump several teams in the standings while consistently winning. They’re also going to make important tweaks in the way they play games.
How will the Blue Jackets get the most out of learning a new coach with these constraints in place? We asked that exact question to captain Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski and Erik Gudbranson, who was activated off of injured reserve Thursday and will return to the Blue Jackets’ lineup against the Vancouver Canucks.
Here’s what they all had to say.
Making Most of the Situation
“I’m sure we’ll get to work right away,” Jenner said. “We’ll talk, watch film, but I think for the most part there will be some changes. We just got to hone in on those details and all be on the same page in the communication part of it. I think from there, guys will understand and we’ll just keep building off it.”
The other thing the Blue Jackets have to do is move on from the frustration of the early part of the season. While it’s a fresh start, they have to avoid the late-game meltdowns that have plagued them throughout the season.
“At the end of the day, we can’t do anything about the first (46 games),” Jenner said. “But we have a lot of time and we have a lot of games here to right the ship. We know where we’re at but we know we have a lot of belief in this group and a resilient group that we can get out of it.”
For Werenski, it’s just like what Jenner said. It’s going to come down to the details. But Werenski adds another important element into the conversation.
“It’s just all business from here on out,” Werenski said. “We can’t be unsure when we hop over the boards what’s going on. We have to, when we get here to the rink and we’re here for two, three, four hours, we have to be extremely focused and detailed. We still in a sense control our own destiny. We have (several) home games here to get right back in it. But it’s on us now to be as focused as we can be, as dialed in as we can be.”
“There’s going to be some, I don’t want to say tough moments, but moments of learning new systems or whatever he wants and that takes some time. But it’s on us to adapt as quickly as we can and play the best that we can. So at the end of the day, it’s just on us players.”
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Gudbranson, who will be playing his first game Thursday night since October, has played with a lot of guys who have had Bowness as a head coach before. All of them raved about the life lessons Bowness taught them.
But for now, Gudbranson says it’s go time.
“You just got to go, right?” Gudbranson said. ” You just got to start. I think the major thing is not overthinking it where you get lost. But it’s about being intelligent. It’s about being proactive. There’s going to be lots of questions thrown around in this room here. I think just that open line of communication. If you have a question, you have to ask it now. There’s never a bad question, almost like you’re back in second grade.”
“If you don’t understand something, you got to go figure it out ASAP because it’s go time here. We have guys that are doing that. There was lots of questions thrown around the room this morning in each meeting.”
The players are all saying the right things in terms of what they need to do. It’s a matter of putting all together in their performances on the ice.
There will be a period of adjustment as the players learn how things will be done under Bowness. But with a renewed focus on the details, there is a belief they can both adjust to their new coach while staying in the playoff race. at the same time.
How the Blue Jackets handle this aspect will go a long way in determining if they can still make something out of the 2025-26 season.
