Mark Recchi will not return as assistant coach with Columbus Blue Jackets

Mark Recchi will not return as assistant coach with Columbus Blue Jackets

A sudden change to the coaching staff in the heart of Ohio.

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic has reported that Hall of Famer Mark Recchi will not return as the assistant coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2024-25 season. The three-time Stanley Cup champion joined the team in September of last year, right as the team was trying to get through the Mike Babcock saga.

Recchi had signed a two-year contract to be behind the bench in Columbus, with the team clearly opting to let him go with one year remaining. Portzline is also reporting that the Blue Jackets will keep assistant coach Steve McCarthy on the staff. The recently hired Dean Evason has yet to announce a replacement. Jared Boll is reportedly also returning to the staff.

The Blue Jackets have not publicly stated why Recchi is no longer with the team.

Recchi was on the staff under Pascal Vincent last season, which was another disaster for the Blue Jackets. The team went 27-43-12, finishing at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division for the second straight season. The lackluster campaign led to Vincent’s dismissal after just one year, with the team promptly hiring Evason just a few weeks ago.

The Blue Jackets were the third different team that Recchi had coached for following an illustrious playing career. He had been an assistant with one of his former teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins, from 2017 to 2020. He followed that up by joining the New Jersey Devils, working as an assistant for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Since the 2007-08 season, Recchi has had an ownership share in another one of his former teams, the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League.

Recchi played 1,652 games in his 21-year NHL career. He played two stints for the Pens and two tours of duty with the Philadelphia Flyers, as well as for the Montreal Canadiens, Atlanta Thrashers, and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Kamloops, British Columbia native won Stanley Cups with the Penguins (1991), Carolina Hurricanes (2006), and Boston Bruins (2011). He scored 577 goals and 956 assists for 1,533 points. In 189 playoff appearances, Recchi tallied 61 goals and 86 assists for 147 points.

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