The Columbus Blue Jackets fired head coach Dean Evason and replaced him with Rick Bowness, leading to a strong interim performance. However, a late-season slump ended their playoff hopes, prompting key offseason decisions for 2026.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets (40-30-12) looked dead in the water at the beginning of the season. They were 17-16-6 entering January. As a result, they fired head coach Dean Evason, replacing him with long-tenured head coach Rick Bowness.
That resulted in an insane interim bump. The Blue Jackets surged to a 35-25-12 record by the start of April, with a seven-game winning streak sandwiched in between. Unfortunately, they slumped in April, with a 2-5-0 record that ended their playoff chances.
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Head coach Rick Bowness sounded off on the effort of the team after the season. Still, with the stretch of momentum he gave the Blue Jackets, the brass decided to retain him for the 2026-27 season. Columbus has a very busy offseason ahead, hoping to keep the momentum going and secure a playoff spot next season.
The Blue Jacketsā surge to relevance was, in a way, more damaging than good. They had several pending free agents, like Charlie Coyle, Boone Jenner, and Erik Gudbranson that they couldāve sold off at the deadline.
Instead, they bought at the deadline, acquiring Conor Garland, Mason Marchment, and Danton Heinen to aid their playoff push. Garland signed an extension with the Vancouver Canucks before his trade to Columbus, but Marchment and Heinen are free agents this season, along with Coyle, Jenner, and Gudbranson.
The Blue Jackets fired head coach Dean Evason and hired Rick Bowness as his replacement.
After hiring Rick Bowness, the Blue Jackets had a record of 35-25-12 by early April.
The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs due to a late-season slump, finishing April with a 2-5-0 record.
The article suggests that the Blue Jackets will need to make decisions regarding their unrestricted free agents during the offseason.
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The Blue Jackets have a lot of cap space to work with next season, potentially enough to re-sign the majority of these players. However, theyāve had struggles attracting players to either sign or re-sign in Columbus for a while.
Coyle had a nice season in Columbus, with 58 points in 82 games. Captain Boone Jenner looked slower after his major injury last season, but he still produced 38 points through 67 games while also providing leadership. Marchment averaged nearly a point per game since his mid-season trade from the Seattle Kraken, with 32 points in 39 games in a Blue Jackets uniform.
The top priority might be to resign Marchment, considering the Blue Jacketsā wing depth and what Marchment does defensively as well (plus-21 plus/minus in Columbus). However, Columbus should aim to retain them all, because replacing them could be harder.
The Blue Jackets also have three major RFA decisions to deal with, two in the forward core. One of them comes from Adam Fantilli.
The 21-year-old center was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2023 NHL draft, but he hasnāt quite performed like some of his draft-class mates (Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson).
However, heās still a quality player in the offensive zone, despite being shaky in his own zone. He had 24 goals and 59 points through 82 games, but a rough minus-13 plus/minus. Heās been steadily improving his offensive confidence, but the time has come to decide a value on Fantilli.
Baseline talks might start with a seven-year, $49 million deal, similar to what Dylan Cozens earned in the 2023 offseason, but Fantilli could earn more than that. AFP Analytics suggests he could make around $9-10 million per year on his new deal.
Secondly, thereās Cole Sillinger. The 2020 first-round pick has seemingly plateaued to a 30-35 point player. Heās scored over 30 points in four of his five seasons in the NHL, including 33 this season. However, heās never cracked the 40-point mark.
Sillinger is a decent scoring option on the bottom six, so thereād be value in him staying. However, heās due for a significant improvement in his payday, with AFP Analytics surmising it could be up to $6.3 million if he were to sign a long-term deal in Columbus. Thatās due to him being arbitration-eligible as well.
For this reason, I think Columbus should consider dangling him for a bigger piece in the offseason. Columbus has a rich amount of prospects to trade, and another elite winger alongside Kirill Marchenko would go a long way to breaking them out of this mid-tier.
Lastly, thereās Jet Greaves. The young goaltender finally broke out, with a .908 save percentage in his first full season of work. It gave Columbus fans a taste of good goaltending for the first time in a while.
Heāll demand a significant rise in his contract, and heās arbitration-eligible. The Jackets could sign him to a shorter deal that would bridge the rest of his time under team control. A two-year contract at around $3-4 million annually could do the trick.
However, the Blue Jackets could also agree on a longer contract with Greaves if they feel inclined. That would probably increase the dollar amount, as AFP analytics projects $5.79 million over four years for a long-term deal.
Regardless, Greaves has been the goaltender of the future for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the future finally came to fruition this season. It is paramount that the Blue Jackets give Greaves the bounty he deserves.