Coyle, Wood see a bright future in Columbus

Miles Wood was teeing off on the 16th hole of a golf course in Ireland.

Charlie Coyle was packing up for a weekend trip to Nantucket.

What did the two have in common?

They both received a call Friday from Don Waddell. They were both heading to Columbus.

“I don't even think I played the rest of the round,” Wood said. “It was the first time I had ever been traded, so it was kind of like a whirlwind there for the last two or three holes.”

And another thing: they were both really excited to become Blue Jackets.

“I've been a fan of them from afar, just knowing that these guys are going to be a team to reckon with as we go on here,” Coyle said. “Being able to join a team like that, it's an exciting thing.”

Coyle and Wood were dealt from Colorado to Columbus ahead of the opening of the NHL draft, with Gavin Brindley and a pair of draft picks going back to the Avalanche. Although the news is still new and moving parts are still moving, both are looking forward to the fresh starts they’ll get with the Blue Jackets.

Wood, who is back in the United States, said he thought a trade could be a “possibility” as Colorado’s season winded down. He has four years left on his contract. Coyle also considered a possible trade as he enters the final year of a six-year deal he originally inked in Boston.

Both overlapped briefly in Colorado, with Coyle joining the Avalanche at the trade deadline this past season. They’ll become much more familiar with each other next season as Blue Jackets, along with the rest of the 2025-26 CBJ team, members of which have already reached out to Coyle and Wood.

“It's nice to get the texts and calls and the welcoming from the team,” Coyle said. “It’s a testament to how this team goes about their business and how they treat everyone.”

Coyle is familiar with a few Blue Jackets through mutual friends, but Wood will enter training camp in September knowing a handful of familiar faces – namely Damon Severson, whom Wood played with for seven years on the New Jersey Devils. Wood also knows Dante Fabbro, who signed a four-year contract extension on Sunday, and played at the World Junior Championships with Zach Werenski in 2015.

Wood is excited about his fresh start – he’s dealt with some back injuries throughout his career, and he said he received stem cell therapy back in November for his back pain that forced him to miss nearly two months of action. But he’s feeling pain-free and looking forward to the fall.

“Things are heading in the right direction here. I can't wait to start playing again,” Wood said.

Both Coyle and Wood experienced the pain of Colorado’s first-round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. The two have a combined 151 games of playoff experience between them, undeniably valuable for a CBJ group that was just two points shy of its first playoff berth since the 2019-20 season.

“This team has been up and coming for a few years now,” Coyle said. “They're right on the cusp, and I want to come in and just try to help out with that. That's all. Bring my game and ease into this team and see what we can accomplish.”

“They've made huge strides over the past few years here,” Wood added. “For them to view me as a player that can help them try to be a playoff team consistently, that's what I want to do, and I can't wait to help them.”

After a record-breaking year of offense from the Blue Jackets – the team’s 234 goals set a franchise record for a single season – Coyle and Wood bring even more depth to CBJ’s roster. Coyle, a right-shot center who scored 17 goals a season ago, is a puzzle piece Waddell had been searching for as free agency loomed.

“We've been – on faceoffs – a lefty team, and we wanted to get a righty,” Waddell said. “Obviously (Coyle is) a big body and plays a 200-foot game on both ends of the ice, very responsible. We've been looking for that right-shot guy all summer, so when that opportunity came up, we had to jump on it.”

Waddell noted that Wood can skate “like the wind” and will bring a rejuvenated energy to Columbus’ bottom-six.

“It was a great call to get,” Wood said, recalling the message he fielded from Waddell on the golf course. “Don seems like a great guy. He's formed a great team so far. He sounds like he's very excited to have me, and I'm very excited as well. Just can't wait to start.”

Both Coyle (33 years old) and Wood (29) will join a CBJ team that was the seventh-youngest among all NHL rosters in 2024-25. Coyle, who is entering his 14th season in the NHL, is excited by the prospect of playing with the younger Blue Jackets. And both Wood and Coyle – even from their own respective clubs at the start of last season – could sense the bond the Blue Jackets had after the loss of Johnny Gaudreau.

“That was a great story,” said Wood, who played with Matthew Gaudreau at Boston College. “The Blue Jackets had an unbelievable year, and they did it for Johnny and the Gaudreau family.”

“It’s a young team, a lot of young players who are very skilled and work hard,” Coyle said. “With experience and years under their belt, you only get better and better through that, and that's what this team has. I know these guys can feel it. You can see it. So to be in that locker room and try to add to it with the little that I bring, it’s an exciting feeling. Even talking about it gets you going.”

Coyle and Wood have both played for teams in the Eastern Conference – Wood for the Devils in the Metropolitan Division – so they’ve both made their fair share of visits to Nationwide Arena.

What comes to mind when they think about Columbus?

“The cannon for sure,” Wood said. “That always would get the heart rate pumping early to start the game.”

“The crowd is such a big part of it – and the cannon,” said Coyle, who skated for the Bruins against the Blue Jackets during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. “So I'm pumped to be in that and be on the right side of things there. I have some really good memories of the atmosphere that they brought and how tough it was there to be an opposing player on an opposing team. … Those are the fans and the crowds you want to play for, and those are the buildings you want to be in.”