Will Rick Bowness return to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets for another season?
Elliotte Friedman joined Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick on Sirius XM NHL Network Morning Skate on Wednesday. There, he was asked about the status of Rick Bowness’ extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
Scott Laughlin: “Friedge, Columbus wins again last night, and now they’re in second place in the Metropolitan Division. We’ve talked about Rick Bowness’ bump. He’s gone from being on the panel like Elliotte Friedman to behind the bench, and he’s had great success. I think, in the future now, agents are releasing, and they’re releasing jackets.
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We know about Charlie Coyle and Mason Marchment and the captain, Boone Jenner and that sort of thing, the guys they’ll be chasing coming up in the summer. I think what I’m getting at, Friedge, is just the feeling that there’s an extension helping Rick Bowness.
I mean at this point, what else does he need to do, other than go out and solidify a playoff spot? And I don’t know, maybe that’s the answer. Are you surprised he hasn’t been extended to Columbus yet?”
Elliotte Friedman: “Yeah, I went up to Don Waddell at the end of the GM meetings. They said to him, what’s the schedule here? And he said, we agreed to talk about it at the end of the season. And he laughed, and he said, the only two people who don’t care about this are us, so I’m going to take them out this year.
But one thing I agree with Scotty is that I think some of the players out there who are UFAs, they want to know, is Rick Bowness going to stay next season? Now, I have to think about this, if he was willing to go out, I don’t know what you call it, retire a little bit, do this job, and have the kind of success that he’s had, and one thing I’ve learned working with Rick Bowness is that he loves to coach. Like love. Then I don’t see why it would be so difficult to get the extension done, as long as no one is physically there.
So that’s how I look at it. But Waddell said they will talk about it at the end of the season. Another thing about Waddell is that he’s not afraid to let conversations wait. They got (Ivan) Provorov right before free agency last year. “
NHLRumors.com Note: Rick Bowness was hired on January 12, 2026, and the Columbus Blue Jackets have a record of 19-3-4. GM Don Waddell felt his team was better than the 19-19-7 record they had before Bowness was hired. When the Blue Jackets traded Marchment and then Conor Garland at the deadline, Columbus felt like they were always a playoff team.
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They will have some tough decisions to make with some of their players, but they traded for Coyle, Miles Wood, and others to strengthen their playoffs. Waddell and Bowness are aware of his plans. It was a one-year contract, and we’ll see what happens. That could affect some of their UFAs. So let’s see how this plays out as the Jackets march towards the finals.
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