Charlie Coyle didn’t want to leave Columbus.
In fact, he never actually did this spring.
While many NHL players return to wherever home might be once the season is over, the Massachusetts native has stayed in Ohio since the Jackets’ campaign ended in mid-April.
“I’m staying for as long as I can,” Coyle joked Tuesday.
Make it six years. The veteran center and the Blue Jackets came to an agreement on a new six-year, $6 million AAV contract announced today that will keep Coyle an integral part of the team going forward.
The 14-year NHL veteran could have tested free agency this summer – and been quite an attractive target for teams given his production and the market – but in the end never wanted to be anywhere else.
Part of it was loyalty, as the Blue Jackets and general manager Don Waddell chose to hold on to Coyle at the trade deadline. Part of it is the Columbus community, which has quickly felt like home to Coyle, his wife Danielle and their two young daughters. Part of it was the return of Rick Bowness, a head coach Coyle has professed to love playing for.
But the biggest factor in Coyle’s decision is he sees a bright future in Columbus, with a young team building toward big things in the coming seasons.
“I of course want to win,” Coyle said. “I've been here for a year. I've seen what we have. I've seen our potential, and I'm excited for it. It's something I want to be here for and work toward. The team we have, the depth we have, it's something that excites me and something that I want to be a part of going forward and something that we can build, because it's there. I know it's there.
"Did we come up short this past year? Yeah, of course. Everyone knows that, but we've made strides, and I know we're going to continue to do that. I've grown to love these guys and love Columbus.”
As Coyle noted, the Blue Jackets were close this past season to ending what became a six-year postseason drought, rising in the Eastern Conference standings under head coach Rick Bowness before a 2-8-1 finish knocked the team out of contention.
It’s the first time in Coyle’s NHL career that he’s had to face a spring without postseason hockey, and it’s fair to say that's left a bitter taste in his mouth. So as he spent the last month considering what was next in his hockey journey, Coyle couldn’t shake the feeling he had unfinished business after one season with the Blue Jackets.
“I want to win wherever I go. Who doesn't?” Coyle said. “When things don't work out, yeah, part of me doesn't want to go jump ship and go somewhere else. I want to do it here, and I want to right the ship and get it where we can get it. I know the potential. I've seen it. I know what we have in here, and I want to work at that and want to work through it and look forward and see where we can get to.
“I know it's in this locker room, and I know we have some decisions to make, and there's going to be other pieces that are going to be coming in to help us too, but it's there. And yeah, that's something that I want to keep working at because it didn't go our way this year. I want to be here and be able to right the ship.”
The Blue Jackets were more than happy to hear that Coyle wanted to return. Targeted by Waddell last offseason as a right-shot center who could fill a need for the squad, Coyle turned in one of the best seasons of his NHL career, posting 20 goals (third-most in his 14 seasons), 38 assists (tied for his best mark) and 58 points (second in his career).
He also won 50.7 percent of his faceoffs, tied a career high with seven power-play goals, was a key part of the team’s penalty kill and centered a line with Mathieu Olivier and Cole Sillinger that outscored teams 27-15 while taking on their best offensive threats throughout the season.
The Blue Jackets have a long list of free agents – both restricted and unrestricted – to sign this summer, but for all of those reasons, keeping the veteran center was at the forefront of Waddell’s efforts.
“If you go back to last year, when we made the trade for Charlie, we said we were looking for a right-hand shot center, and certainly we were happy to make the trade,” Waddell said. “But then having Charlie all this year, getting to know him not only as a player, but as a person, we knew that he cares about the team, he cares about winning and cares about the community. So when we met at the end of the season and talked to all the players that Charlie, you know, it was very clear that if there's an opportunity and we can work it out, he'd like to stay.
“To me, I judged a lot of things too. I've had probably 10 to 12 calls in the last couple of weeks about, what's our plans with Charlie? Would we consider trading his rights and that. So you know, with him being a potential free agent, the market was going to be out there looking for him. We just felt that he's such an important part of our franchise moving forward.”
While Coyle turned 34 during the past season, meaning the contract will keep him in Columbus until age 40, Waddell acknowledged that part of the reasoning behind a six-year contract was the market but also noted that the experienced center is one of the most reliable players in the league. Coyle played all 82 games for the Blue Jackets this past season, marking the fifth straight season he didn’t miss a contest, and he’s missed just 16 games over the previous 12 campaigns.
He also became a nearly indispensible part of the team both because of his play and what he brought to the locker room. Coyle wore an “A” at times throughout the season and was immediately looked to as a leader, with CBJ players raving about his presence throughout the season. When asked why he produced one of the best seasons statistically in his career, Coyle said it was the right combination of player, teammates and situation.
“I felt very valued this year,” he said. “I felt that I was very, very important to this team, playing in every situation, no matter what happens. If there's penalties, penalty kill, power play, playing some good minutes, too. That's what every hockey player wants. You want to be relied upon and play. And I felt very valued, which I think helped my game elevate a little more too.”
As the Blue Jackets, with a core of leaders and a bevy of youngsters that have just scratched the surface of their abilities, look to make the next step to playoff hockey, keeping a player like Coyle around was one of the top objectives of the offseason. And as Coyle looked at where he wanted to be at this point in his career, there was nowhere more attractive than helping the Blue Jackets get where they want to go.
"The underlying thing is, this is a place that we can win,” Coyle said. “I see that potential, and I didn't want to leave that.”
