Pros & Cons of Retaining Pascal Vincent as Blue Jackets’ Coach

Change is not only expected, but expected to be many. The Blue Jackets are last in the Eastern Conference by 10 points and knew early on that the playoffs were not going to be a thing for them.

We know that a new general manager will be coming in. With that comes the possible domino effect. The coaching staff, the roster and the staff will all be evaluated under the watchful eye of the new GM.

That is the question we are going to explore today. Should the Blue Jackets, even with a new general manager coming in, retain head coach Pascal Vincent? We know that the new GM will have the final say in this.

Just as a backdrop, there is precedence in a head coach staying even when a new general manager comes in. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe remained with the team when GM Brad Treliving was hired. Of course, the Maple Leafs were in a much different situation being a playoff contender. They will once again get ready for a playoff series this season.

In looking at the overall situation, there are pros and cons the new GM must consider when making a decision on Vincent.

Pros of Keeping Vincent

If he is retained, Vincent does have one more season on his contract. One pro of keeping him would be to honor his contract so that the Blue Jackets don’t have a fourth head coach in the last two seasons.

Brad Larsen was fired. So was Mike Babcock. If the Blue Jackets elect to fire Vincent, they would have a fourth head coach. That kind of change is not good for a young team trying to find chemistry. Think of it this way. Since Johnny Gaudreau signed his seven-year deal with the Blue Jackets, he’s had three head coaches. It could be four. That’s almost unheard of in that short length of time.

Another pro of keeping Vincent is it would allow him a full offseason and opportunity to plan out things he wants to do without having to feel rushed. Recall Vincent was named head coach right in front of training camp. Talk about a rush to try to get things in order. While the players knew him and while Vincent was working with Babcock, he still wasn’t the head coach. How would he do with a full offseason of planning and preparation?

Yet another pro of keeping Vincent is that there has been some noticeable improvement in certain spots that simply wasn’t there when Larsen was on the bench. The team seemed to check out at the end of the 2022-23 season. This 2023-24 team hasn’t done that. They haven’t quit on their coach. That says something. It means the message is getting across. That’s one improvement.

Cole Sillinger has come on and is playing the best overall two-way hockey of his career. He struggled mightily in 2022-23. Vincent deserves some credit for helping make that happen.

Vincent has also helped Dmitri Voronkov have a nice rookie season while trying to adjust to living in North America for the first time. He has always been respected as a coach in his previous stops over 30 years for not only being able to develop players but also communicate with them. There does seem to be a respect within the Blue Jackets’ locker room for the way he does things.

Cons of Keeping Vincent

With the good comes the bad in any situation. For starters, the Blue Jackets were consistently outshot in games and had a porous defense despite making key changes.

On 18 occasions in 2023-24, the Blue Jackets allowed 40 or more shots on goal. Most of the youth on the team is at forward. They have allowed 297 goals in 81 games. If they allow three or more on Tuesday, that would mark consecutive seasons allowing 300 goals or more.

Some of the key decisions of Vincent have also not worked out. They continued to try Patrik Laine at center which ultimately cost other young players key development time. And while Sillinger has had a nice year, the way some of the other young players have been handled has been questionable at best.

In a year where development is paramount for the Blue Jackets, there is no excuse to have Boone Jenner play over 20 minutes a night given his injury history while costing others the chance to play in key situations. They were already out of the playoffs. What was the point? They knew what they’d get from Jenner. Why not see what others can do in those roles?

Limiting Kent Johnson’s ice time early in the season, why? He wasn’t always put in the best positions to succeed given what his skill set is. Lineup decisions and deployment has been questionable under Vincent.

Then all of those blown leads in games. The coaching staff knew this was an issue but it continued to happen at a staggering rate. While that has improved some as the season has gone on, it hasn’t translated to wins in the standings. It pointed to a coaching staff not having answers to a key question.

What Will the Blue Jackets Do?

As we’ve said, the new general manager will decide if Vincent is the head coach come Game 1 in 2024-25. It will depend on how that GM views the overall situation. Some GM’s would allow him the chance to stay. Others would prefer their own guy right from the start.

The fact that this young Blue Jackets’ team has seen some improvement in areas while the season has gone on coupled with the respect the room seems to have for him does suggest at least a chance he’s behind the bench next season. The new GM could elect to collect input from the players before ultimately making a decision.

But on the other hand, being 29th in the NHL standings while showing some questionable decision making does open the door for yet another coaching change.

The question many fans want to know is one that doesn’t have a definitive answer yet. What are the chances Vincent is coach for Game 1 of 2024-25. My own take, I’d call it 60/40 he is not back, so a slight edge to him not returning. Given the need for an experienced GM, I just see more possible outcomes where it lands on him not coming back. While management has said some good things about Vincent, there hasn’t been a full-fledge ringing endorsement on him to the degree of “he’s definitely coming back.”

But the reality is both outcomes are possible. How the new GM views Vincent will be our guide to what will happen.

Vincent is a highly-respected coach around the NHL. He was dealt a less than ideal hand to start. Allowing him one more year to see what he can do would show what he’s capable of. But in a results driven business, he may also be staring at the reality of coaching his last game with the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

Once Game 82 is over, the real waiting game begins.