Kirill Marchenko and Rick Bowness didn't ask for Mike Babcock to swing back into the Columbus Blue Jackets conversation.
That's exactly what happened Tuesday when agent Dan Milstein publicly backed Babcock and said none of his players, past or present, ever had issues with him.
The timing matters in Columbus because Babcock's name still carries baggage there, even after the Blue Jackets pushed through an 82-game season and finished 40-30-12.
They ended with 92 points and a 0 goal differential, which tells you how thin the margin was around that room all year.
Any old drama getting pulled back into the frame lands hard.
This isn't really about reliving a past hiring cycle. It's about whether a club that just went 2-7-1 over its last 10 needs that noise anywhere near the bench again.
The Blue Jackets also closed on a 2-game slide, and that only sharpens how much the next stretch under Bowness will be about structure, trust, and daily buy-in.
The statement itself is plain and pointed. Milstein looks straight into the camera and pushes back on the idea that Babcock is toxic to every player who has crossed his path.
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Why this lands differently in Columbus for Mike Babcock
Columbus wasn't a disaster last season. The Blue Jackets scored 253 goals and gave up 253, which is about as middle-ground as an NHL profile gets.
That's why Marchenko matters in this discussion, even without saying a word.
Players in that age bracket are the ones who feel it first when an organization starts dragging old coach baggage back into public view.
Bowness was hired on 2026-01-12, and that date matters because it reset the room. A new voice only works if the story stays on the ice and out of the past.
Dan Milstein may believe he's correcting the record on Babcock.
Fair enough. But in a market like Columbus, that kind of defense doesn't land as a clean media hit. It lands as a reopened scar.
The Blue Jackets were 20-13-8 at home and 20-17-4 on the road, so this wasn't a team that folded in one setting and survived in another. They were competitive, fragile, and still building.
That's why Marchenko is the right lens here. Columbus needs its young core talking about puck touches, special teams, and the next push up the standings, not another round of Mike Babcock fallout.
Did Dan Milstein just reopen a wound Columbus never wanted back?
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