The Columbus Blue Jackets have looked like a completely different team under Rick Bowness. After hiring the veteran bench boss to replace Dean Evason on Jan. 12, the club has gone a terrific 14-2-3, immediately returning to relevance in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They've also heavily outplayed their opponents in that time, leading for 402:39 and trailing for just 64:14 in the first 11 games of his tenure, per NHL.com.
General manager Don Waddell also made the team even better ahead of last Friday's NHL Trade Deadline, acquiring undersized forward Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks in return for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a second-rounder in 2028. It was precious draft capital to be parting with, but the move has already paid dividends in less than a week.
The 30-year-old has scored four goals in his first three games with the Jackets, two against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon, and another two just 24 hours later vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's the first time he's recorded consecutive multi-goal games in the National Hockey League, and he looks like a different player away from the Canucks, who are a league-worst 19-37-8.
Garland has already fit like a glove with his new team, and here are three reasons why he's going to continue to be an excellent fit in Ohio not only down the stretch in 2025-26, but also for years to come.
Conor Garland gets to play closer to home for 1st time in NHL career
Originally selected in the fifth-round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes, Garland worked his way up the American Hockey League ranks with the Tucson Roadrunners before making his big-league debut in 2018-19. He played three full seasons in Arizona before being traded to the Canucks ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
Garland spent most of five seasons in British Columbia, never recording less than 46 points in a full campaign and helping the Canucks win the Pacific Division in 2023-24 before taking the Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 in Round 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
All that to say, the Scituate, Massachusetts native has never played on the East Coast. While Ohio and Massachusetts are still relatively far apart, he's a ton closer to home than he was for the first near-decade of his career. He's now out of Pacific Time and back to Eastern Time, which he has to appreciate, especially as he isn't getting any younger — he turned 30 on Wednesday, March 11.
Garland fits the style the Blue Jackets want to play
More importantly than being back on the East Coast, Garland will get to play on a much better team over the next presumably six years of his career. He signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension with Vancouver on July 1, 2025, a pact that doesn't kick in until the start of next season.
It must have been somewhat depressing for Garland to realize that, just as he was about to start making the most money of his career, Vancouver decided to commit to a rebuild after a decade and a half of trying to retool on the fly. Garland is still in his prime, but almost certainly won't be when the Canucks are next legitimately competing for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Now, Garland will not only get to play on a team that is trying hard to come out of a rebuild, but one that has much more talent than Vancouver does. He's already formed excellent chemistry on the second line with Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson. Although he is currently on the second powerplay unit, he would probably be the first player elevated to PP1 in the case of an injury, especially considering how potent he has been so far in Columbus.
As well, Garland is small but fast and crafty, and the Blue Jackets are a quick team. They forecheck hard, are extremely deep offensively — Charlie Coyle and Mason Marchment have combined for 83 points on the third line — and come at you in waves. It's a style of play that has suited Garland well throughout his career, and he looks to be a phenomenal fit in Ohio.
Garland gets a chance to chase postseason glory in Columbus
Finally, as previously mentioned, the Canucks are entering the rebuild and the Blue Jackets are exiting it. The team was oh-so-close to getting into the Eastern Conference playoff picture in 2024-25, and they're currently just two points out of returning to the dance for the first time since 2019-20.
With 76 points in 64 games, they're hot on the trail of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division, who each have 79 points. The Detroit Red Wings (79 points) and Boston Bruins (78 points) currently occupy the two wildcard berths in the conference, and the Jackets have been better than all four teams since before the Olympic break.
Garland has only played in the postseason twice in his career; he managed two points in eight games with the Coyotes in the 2019-20 COVID-year playoffs, and chipped in five points in 13 games with the Canucks in 2023-24.
He made it clear earlier this week that, with his new team, he only has one goal.
“Just winning is what matters, it's the best time of year to play in,” Garland said, per NHL.com's Corey Long. “You're going to be in tight games from here on out. It's stressful, but that's what makes it so fun.”
“He plays the right way,” superstar defenseman and best player Zach Werenski said of Garland. “He competes. He works extremely hard in battles. He's a smaller guy, but he doesn't play like it and that brings everyone else into the fight.”
Garland's career outlook, which was looking brutal on a very poor Canucks team, has completely changed. He's now back on the East Coast and part of one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League, who should be perennial playoff contenders for years to come. He's gone from a bleak situation to an extremely promising one, and the way he's played since the trade is telling.
With a nearly fully healthy roster down the stretch, Garland and his new Blue Jackets teammates look well-positioned to be one of the last eight teams standing in the Eastern Conference for the first time in over half a decade.
