Rick Bowness comes out of retirement, hired by metro team to replace head coach Dean Evason

The Columbus Blue Jackets were one of the most exciting stories in the National Hockey League a year ago, and while their Stanley Cup Playoff dreams fell short, they had a promising season that they could build on in 2025/26.

However, despite showing more promise this season, the team now sit at 19-19-7, and with five losses in their past seven games, they've fallen into last place in the Metropolitan Division.

Then, on Monday came the shocker, with the team announcing on social media that they had parted ways with Head Coach Dean Evason and his coaching staff, a move that nobody in the NHL saw coming.

While there was plenty of good from Evason over the past 18 months, there was also some bad, with plenty of players on this team failing to reach their potential under the Head Coach.

In his place, the team now turn to Rick Bowness, a man with 803 games of NHL experience behind the bench, as well as taking his teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs on five different ocassions.

The last time he coached was with the Winnipeg Jets in 2023/24, and given the level of young talent this Blue Jackets team have, it appears as though the front office believe he can help them take the next step.

Ultimately, this was a move that nobody saw coming, but clearly the front office see this team as one that has more potential than they are delivering on right now, and if that's true, this team could catch fire in the coming months if things go well for them.

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