Former Blue Jacket defenseman Jordan Harris gave an interview recently with the Boston Herald, and he said something about the Blue Jacket coaches that could be a cause for concern. 

Harris was traded to Columbus by Montreal for Patrik Laine and a 2nd-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, August 19, 2024. This after Laine asked out of Columbus earlier that summer after new GM Don Waddell took over. 

Last month, Harris was informed that he wouldn't be given a qualifying offer by the CBJ after playing in only 33 games last season. According to Harris, he found out just a few days before the start of free agency, which seems weird that the Jackets front office wouldn't tell him something like that weeks in advance, knowing full well they didn't want to bring him back. But ok. 

Harris tells the Herald that he "wasn’t sure why his season played out the way it did, but he took positives out of it and held no ill will toward the organization."

Harris goes on to say,  “And that’s all you want to do at the end of the day. Obviously, you want to help your team the best you can. And obviously you want to play. Every player wants to play. And I can’t say why some decisions were made. I tried to talk to the coaches, have those conversations, and be proactive about it, and didn’t really get much of a definitive answer. It just seemed that that’s the way it was. But there was definitely a silver lining to it all, no matter how disappointing it was as a season.”

That line "I tried to talk to the coaches, have those conversations, and be proactive about it, and didn’t really get much of a definitive answer. It just seemed that that’s the way it was," marks the second story in two days where a player had said something about the coaches not communicating with players. 

Just yesterday, after it came out that Yegor Chinakhov may want out of Columbus, a story on a Russian website had the following quote from Chinakhov: "I was put in the first game, although I was supposed to come out for the third. The coach said not to worry about mistakes, just play. I understood that I hadn’t played for a long time, so I agreed. There weren’t many mistakes, we then watched the video. Yes, there were some in the game, but they weren’t critical. The coach said that everything was fine, play. Then he suddenly sat me down. He said that an assistant would explain the reason. The assistant showed a video with moments of the game, and I didn’t understand what was going on."

He would further say, "The most interesting thing is that at the end of the year, even at a meeting, everyone was called, but there were no questions for me. I mostly talked to the assistants because the head coach said, 'The assistants will explain everything to you.' But they don’t explain anything."

Is there a communication issue between the coaching staff and players? Is there a communication issue between the front office and the players? 

Stories like these won't give much confidence that the new regime is any different from the old. 

What do you think about these two stories?

Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!

Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story. 

From The Archive: Whalers going to Columbus? The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 78 years of history, stories, and features.

What Is Yegor Chinakhov's Trade Value? With the news today that Yegor Chinakhov has requested a trade away from the Columbus Blue Jackets, many are left to wonder what his worth is.

Yegor Chinakhov Requests Trade? Per Shumi Babaev on X, his client, Yegor Chinakhov has reauested a trade out of Columbus.