Rick Bowness, Blue Jackets Agree to New HC Contract After Missing 2026 NHL Playoffs

Rick Bowness will get the chance to install the cultural change he says he's looking for in the Columbus Blue Jackets locker room.

Bowness has agreed to an extension to remain the Blue Jackets' head coach.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun previously reported the news.

Bowness was hired in January to replace former Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason.

The news comes two days after Bowness said he planned on "changing this culture" in Columbus should he return for another season after the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs following a late-season collapse.

The Blue Jackets, who were sitting at second place in the Metropolitan Division in late March, finished the season 2-8-1 and lost out on their playoff spot to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Both the Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals had already been eliminated from postseason contention by the time of Tuesday's regular-season finale, which Columbus lost 2-1.

The news that Bowness will return for another season comes after players including Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov and Sean Monahan pushed back against their coach's reaction to that season-ending loss, per The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Bowness told reporters in an emotional postgame press conference Tuesday he felt "losing is not important enough" to his players.

"We're going to change that, if I'm back— and I don't know if I'm back, [Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell] and I will talk, we'll get to that— but man oh man, some of those guys are so lucky the season's over and there's no practice tomorrow," Bowness said.

"If they're not embarrassed by, not only tonight, by that [season-ending six-game home losing streak], they're on the wrong team... the players were told tonight. If I'm back, we're changing this freaking culture."

Werenski pushed back against those comments Wednesday, when he told reporters he didn't "think it's right to say that we don't hate to lose and that we don't care" (h/t 1st Ohio Battery).

Werenski also said he had spoken with Bowness and the two were "fine" as of Wednesday morning, per 1st Ohio Battery's Ed Francis.

Bowness received more support Thursday from defenseman Damon Severson, who told Portzline that Bowness is "the best coach I've personally ever had."

"We're all big fans of Bones. We let the team down, the organization and the fans down by not being in the playoffs, but Rick Bowness is not the issue at all," Severson said, per Portzline. "He's going to be part of the solution here. I'm a big fan of his, and I'd be ecstatic is he's back."

Bowness has 15 seasons of head coaching experience over multiple different spans dating back to 1988. He most recently spent two seasons with the Winnipeg Jets between 2022 and 2024 prior to his January hiring by the Blue Jackets.

His return could potentially have an impact on how the Blue Jackets, a team still in search of its first playoff berth since 2020, handle some upcoming roster decisions. Eleven players currently on the Columbus roster could hit free agency this summer, per PuckPedia, and general manager Don Waddell could start there if he and Bowness are looking to shake things up this offseason.