Pascal Vincent’s Future Shouldn’t Be Halted by Blue Jackets Stint

If things had played out as Vincent likely would’ve hoped at this point, he would’ve been immediately named head coach of the Blue Jackets and started preparing for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Instead, Kekalainen threw the hockey world a major curveball by hiring the disgraced former Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss, Mike Babcock. 

While Babcock had a considerable amount of success on the ice in the past, he had fallen out of favor as many of his ways were seen as old school and not appropriate for the modern NHL. It wouldn’t take long for that to be proven correct, as before Babcock even coached a game for the Blue Jackets, he resigned from the team following an alleged invasion of a player’s privacy right before training camp.

With the season right around the corner and limited time to conduct a second coaching search in just a few months, the Blue Jackets turned to Vincent, announcing him as the new head coach in Columbus. Right out of the gate, it seemed as if he had been set up for failure, though. Considering Kekalainen had hired Babcock, it was clear that Vincent wasn’t the organization’s first choice for the job. Then, add in the fact that the players had to go through two coaching changes over the course of a single summer, and the organization was tossed into turmoil before they had even taken the ice. Any experienced NHL head coach would have struggled stepping into that environment, yet the responsibility fell to a rookie head coach who wasn’t expecting to have the job just a week before training camp. 

When Vincent was hired, the move was praised, and many around the league felt that his appointment was well overdue. 

Mistakes Aplenty

Once Vincent was officially the bench boss for the Blue Jackets, things didn’t go smoothly. By November, he had benched two of the team’s key players, Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau. Laine, in particular, made things difficult for Vincent as he would be scratched multiple times over the course of the season. 

One decision Vincent made went viral, as many around the league questioned why he decided to play Laine at center early in the season as well. It was something the Finnish winger had made clear that he wanted to try, but it seemed like an experiment that was destined to fail given his style of play and overall lackluster defensive play. While many have highlighted this as a decision that proved Vincent wasn’t ready to coach at the NHL level, it may have actually done the opposite. 

Given the circumstances surrounding the Blue Jackets at that point, if the team was going to take a step forward and find any success, it was going to require some bold decision-making. Simply put, Vincent was willing to take risks in order to move his team forward. While in this case it didn’t work, the next one certainly could. 

Vincent is willing to admit that he made some mistakes. Last week, he told our Mark Scheig, “I’ve learned good things. I’ve learned things that I wouldn’t do again.” The acknowledgment that he wasn’t perfect shows that he knows what he needs to do better moving forward.

The Blue Jackets ultimately opted to go in another direction when Don Waddell was appointed as the new general manager, hiring Dean Evason and relieving Vincent of his duties.

Immediate Success in Laval

Later that summer, Vincent was hired by the Rocket, and he’s had a considerable amount of success already. In his first season, he led them to a lengthy playoff run, which is still ongoing. He was also given the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach of the year for the second time in his career. 

Overall, despite some mistakes during his time behind the bench for the Blue Jackets, Vincent has a strong reputation around the hockey world. As a result, it would be unwise to count him out of future coaching searches at the NHL level. He deserves another opportunity as a head coach. With the amount of job openings around the league at this point in time, that chance may come much sooner than expected.