Rick Bowness to return as Blue Jackets head coach in 2026-27 - NHL.com

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Rick Bowness have agreed to a contract that will keep Bowness with the club as its head coach during the 2026-27 season, President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell announced today. Bowness joined the club on January 12, taking over behind the bench for Dean Evason, and led Columbus to a 21-11-5 record (.635) in 37 games.

“Rick has done an outstanding job since his arrival and it was obvious to all of us that he is the right person to lead our club as head coach,” said Waddell. “Rick developed strong relationships with our players who will continue to benefit greatly from his leadership as we look to learn from the hard lessons of this season and work towards our goal of competing for a Stanley Cup.”

Bowness, 71, has compiled a 331-419-48-42 record (W-L-T-OT) in 840 games as an NHL head coach or interim head coach with the Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, including a 208-130-0-39 mark in 377 games since 2019.

“I have really enjoyed my time with this organization and absolutely love being part of it and working with these players,” said Bowness. “We’re all very disappointed by how our season ended and we have a lot of work to do, but we will do what’s necessary to be the type of team we want to be and that our great fans expect us to be. I’m excited about continuing the work we started here, and I appreciate the confidence in me shown by Don, (CBJ President) Mike Priest and our ownership group led by the McConnell family.”

Prior to arriving in Columbus, Bowness most recently served as the head coach of the Jets from 2022-24, leading the club to a 98-57-9 record (.625 pct.) in 164 games and back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He spent the previous two-plus seasons with the Stars, compiling a 89-62-25 mark (.577) in 176 games from 2019-22. After being named interim head coach in December 2019, he led the club to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost a six-game series to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In his final season in Dallas, he led the Stars to a 46-30-6 mark in 2021-22.

The Moncton, New Brunswick native began his coaching career as a player- coach of the American Hockey League’s Sherbrooke Jets in 1982-83 before joining Winnipeg as an assistant coach from 1984-87. He served as the head coach of the AHL’s Moncton Hawks from 1987-91 and had a 28-game stint as Winnipeg’s interim head coach during the 1988-89 campaign.

He spent the 1991-92 season as head coach of the Bruins, guiding the club to a 36-32-12 record and playoff berth before being named head coach of the expansion Senators in 1992. He led the club for three-plus seasons before joining the Islanders as associate coach in 1996. He was named head coach during that campaign and remained in the position through the 1997-98 season. He then spent six years with the Coyotes from 1999-06, including a stint as interim head coach in 2003-04. Over the next 15 seasons, he served on the coaching staffs of the Vancouver Canucks (2006-13), Lightning (2013-18) and Stars (2018-19).

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