The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that assistant coaches Mike Haviland and Scott Ford, as well as video coach Aron Augustitus, will not return to the club in 2026-27. The contracts of all three were set to expire this summer.
The decisions were made following meetings between president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell, and head coach Rick Bowness. Bowness, who replaced Dean Evason in January, signed a one-year contract extension earlier this month.
“Following our end-of-season meetings, Rick and I determined that changes to our coaching staff would be in the best interest of our club moving forward,” said Waddell in a statement.
“We are very appreciative of the time and hard work that Mike, Scott and Aron have done during their time with the Blue Jackets and wish them well in their future endeavours. We will begin the process of reviewing candidates to join our staff in the very near future.”
Haviland and Ford each joined the Blue Jackets before the 2024-25 campaign. Haviland had spent the previous two campaigns as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ American Hockey League affiliate, while Ford arrived having spent eight years as an assistant with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.
Augustitus joined the organization in 2018 and served as a video assistant from 2020-25.
