The Columbus Blue Jackets hired Rick Bowness on January 12, 2026, and one of the players who benefited from the new coach was center Charlie Coyle: His points per game increased significantly from 0.58 (26 points in 45 games) to 0.86 (32 points in 37 games). Before Bowness came on as coach, Coyle was only getting 30.2% of power play time. Bowness promptly deployed Coyle on the top power play unit and boosted his average power play time on ice percentage to 70.6% for the remainder of the season. Coyle, right-handed, complemented Adam Fantilli, left-handed, to increase the chances of winning the faceoff and keeping possession with the man advantage. Coyle provided a couple of four-point games, as well a pair of three-point games under the new bench boss. Never in his career has he been given regular PP1 time, so he makes a good buy low candidate if he remains in the good books of Rick Bowness.

On the first wave, Coyle was trotted onto the ice along with Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, Mason Marchment, and Kirill Marchenko. Marchment has since decided to take his talents to California, and so it would appear that newly acquired Valeri Nichushkin can potentially and seamlessly slide into that five-man unit to replace fellow left-handed winger Marchment. With Nichushkin joining Marchenko, Dimitri Voronkov, and Ivan Provorov, no team has more Russians on their roster than the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nichushkin had a down season, where he saw virtually no ice time alongside Nathan Mackinnon at even strength or on the man advantage.

• His shots on goal also fell to a five-year low (2.22/game).
• His hits, which were regularly in the 1.2-1.3/game range, fell to 0.76/game.
• His average time on ice fell from 19:44 to 17:44
• His percentage of power play time took a big hit, dropping to 35.6% from 67.5%

It's no wonder then that his points per game also took a nosedive to 0.68. The big question is will these numbers bounce back under Rick Bowness? The quick answer is that it depends on deployment. There is potential for him to grab a spot on the top line and top power play. Although he won't have a Nathan MacKinnon with him, Nichushkin could still end up getting substantial ice time with the likes of Fantilli, Marchenko, and Zach Werenski. A return to his traditionally heavy shots and hits would make him valuable in peripheral categories as well. He is a player to keep an eye on as a buy low candidate.

Who took the biggest hit under Bowness? That would be Dmitri Voronkov whose points per game fell off a cliff from 0.64 (29 points in 45 games) to 0.17 (3 points in 18 games). His average ice time of 15:31 pre-Bowness dropped to 9:59 under the new coach. Voronkov only played in two of the Blue Jackets' last 21 games, due to a combination of healthy scratches and then a hand injury, which ultimately forced him to be shut down for the season. 

On the back end, Damon Severson received almost three more minutes (19:58 to 22:59) of ice time under the new coach. The breakdown was about one more minute in short handed time, and two more minutes of even strength time. Severson responded by upping his points per game from 0.38 (17 points in 45 games) to 0.58 (15 points in 26 games). All his points under Bowness were at even strength, so he likely will not be able to reproduce that elevated points per game (0.58) next season and will settle in at his usual career average closer to 0.40 points per game. Severson also missed the end of the season undergoing shoulder surgery on April 2. He is expected to be healthy for training camp.

Another forward who saw a brighter outlook with the new coach is the third overall pick in the 2023 draft: Adam Fantilli. Bowness increased his workload by a little over half a minute (18:38 to 19:14), and Fantilli's per game production shot up from 28 points in 45 games (0.62) to 31 points in 37 games (0.84). With 213 career games under his belt, Fantilli is right in the wheelhouse of his breakout threshold, so it is possible that this has less to do with the coach and more to do with his expected natural progression. Fantilli already brings a lot to the table in peripheral categories: Last season, he averaged 2.61 shots, 1.70 hits, 0.62 blocks, and 6.73 face-offs won per game. His 13 power play points, 11.2% shooting percentage, and 8.6% 5v5 shooting percentage should all see a slight uptick in the coming campaign.

This depth chart could change with Kirill Marchenko getting dealt. His name has resurfaced in trade rumours, as fans noticed he stopped following the Blue Jackets on Instagram towards the end of the season. In his last 164 regular season games, Marchenko has 149 points (0.91 points per game). In 2025-26, Marchenko was tied for 5^th in the league in takeaways. Dobber asks what a Marchenko trade would look like:

Let’s delve into it. The Blue Jackets have a problem retaining talent. The list is long of players that have wanted out: Rick Nash, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Yegor Chinakhov, Patrick Laine, Seth Jones, Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Nikita Filatov, David Jiricek, and potentially the current quartet of Elvis Merzlikins, Marchenko, Werenski and Voronkov.

GMs in cities like Columbus and Winnipeg are forced to target players already signed or under team control. Someone like Jakub Dobes, who is signed for one more year at $965k and then three additional years at $5.36 million, would provide cost certainty, and solidify a solid tandem with Jet Greaves for a combined $10.36 million per year until the 2028-29 season. Another young player locked in long term without any trade protection is 24-year-old LHD Kaiden Guhle. He is signed for five more years at a very reasonable $5.55 million AAV. The Canadiens have an excess at both positions.

One way that Marchenko could influence the trade return is by agreeing (or not agreeing) to extend with his new team. Although he lacks a no trade clause, Don Waddell’s most lucrative return will be from a team that negotiates an extension agent Dan Milstein.

Players wanting to sign an eight-year extension only have until September 16, 2026. The new CBA comes into full effect that date. The recent trend has been players signing shorter deals in anticipation of the cap rising, but Marchenko’s agent Dan Milstein has a recently ironed out an eight-year deal with Kent Hughes for another Russian RFA winger in Ivan Demidov.

Kent Hughes already has a trade history with Don Waddell. A couple of summers ago, the two GMs hooked up on the trade of Patrick Laine for Jordan Harris and a 2nd round pick (which Montreal later traded away in exchange for Phil Danault). In order to avoid taking a step back, Waddell would prefer players over picks and prospects. If prospects are on the table, then players like Alexander Zharovsky and Bryce Pickford could be included.

Taken early in round two (34^th overall in 2025), Zharovsky scored 42 points in 59 games for Salavat Yulaev in the KHL, tying Kirill Kaprizov's point total in his rookie year (also for Salavat Yulaev). As a result, Zharovksy claimed rookie of the year honors in the KHL. Bryce Pickford (drafted one round after Zharovsky) was teammates with the Ruck brothers (Markus and Liam, both drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins) on the offensive powerhouse Medicine Hat Tigers, a team that led the WHL with 348 goals. Pickford played in only 55 games but contributed a whopping 45 of those goals from the back end. Only Cam Schmidt had more goals (51) than Pickford, and only Tij Iginla has a higher goals per game average (0.854) than Pickford (0.818).

The other important factor affecting a potential trade is the salary cap. With Macklin Celebrini now hitting the $18.8 million AAV mark, Adam Fantilli will end up blowing his AFP Analytics projection ($10 million x 8 years) out of the water. Blue Jackets reporter Aaron Portzline expects Fantilli’s next contract to be a five-year deal worth between $13-14 million AAV. Interestingly, the Blue Jackets only have $13.5-$14 million in cap space. Therefore, Montreal would have to take on salary in any deal to give Don Waddell some breathing room.

As mentioned earlier 6’5″ winger Dmitri Voronkov was in the Rick Bowness doghouse. He is in the last year of a $4.18 million contract (RFA). Having that contract parked on the fourth line or in the stands, is not efficient use of cap space.

On the Canadiens' side, it is Arber Xhekaj that can’t seem to earn the trust of Marty St. Louis. In previous seasons, Xhekaj would get 14 to 16 minutes of time on ice. This year it fell to 11:25/game, which was lower than Jayden Struble’s 14:01/game. In the playoffs, Xhekaj was trusted even less, to the tune of just 8:06/game. Xhekaj only played in 13 of the Habs 19 playoff games and will likely get at least a $2 million AAV on his next deal. The left side of Montreal's defense is overflowing with Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, and Adam Engstrom (NHL ready but stuck in the minors due to the logjam). Some have been playing the right side to alleviate this issue, until a trade materializes.

So to answer Dobber's question; these are some of the players and prospects that could be part of the potential Columbus-Montreal trade that keeps on resurfacing in this summer's rumour mill.

Player usage data from Frozen Tools. Salary information from capwages.com. Advanced stats from moneypuck.com.

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