Columbus Fires Three Coaches After Sixth Straight Playoff Miss, and the Rebuild Just Got Real

The Columbus Blue Jackets are cleaning house. On Friday, the team announced that assistant coaches Mike Haviland and Scott Ford are gone, along with video coach Aron Augustitus. All three had contracts through 2025-26, but the organization decided to move on after another brutal season that saw the team finish fifth in the Metropolitan Division and miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

What Went Wrong This Season

Columbus limped to the finish line with a 40-30-12 record and 92 points. That's not the kind of record that keeps your coaching staff around, especially when you're staring down six straight seasons without playoff hockey. The front office had already made a major move mid-season, firing head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Steve McCarthy back on January 12. Rick Bowness took over and managed a respectable 21-11-5 record the rest of the way, but it wasn't enough to salvage the season or keep the entire coaching staff intact.

A Fresh Start Coming

President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell didn't mince words about the move. "Following our end of season meetings, Rick and I determined that changes to our coaching staff would be in the best interest of our club moving forward," he said. The organization was appreciative of Haviland and Ford, who both joined before the 2024-25 campaign, and Augustitus, who had been with the Blue Jackets since 2018. But gratitude doesn't equal job security.

Waddell signaled that the team will "begin the process of reviewing candidates to join our staff in the very near future." Translation: Don't expect the rebuild to stall. Columbus is hunting for a coaching staff that can finally snap this brutal drought and get this franchise back into contention where it belongs.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.