The Columbus Blue Jackets got an unexpected off-ice jolt Wednesday, and it arrived just hours after training camp opened.
The team announced that Mike Priest, who has been the club’s president and an alternate governor since 2007, will retire at the end of September. He’ll remain in an advisory role through the end of 2026.
Taking over “for the immediate future” is John H. McConnell II, the grandson of franchise founder John H.
McConnell and the son of current majority owner John P. McConnell.
The reaction was swift and, across social media over the next 24 hours, mostly favorable. Plenty of fans saw Priest as the steady presence around a franchise that has rarely enjoyed sustained success and, more recently, has taken on a lot of negative public relations.
That’s hard to dismiss. At the same time, unless you’re inside the organization, it’s impossible to know exactly where Priest’s influence ended and where someone else’s began.
He may have caught blame for things he didn’t control, and he may have escaped criticism for decisions that were squarely on his watch. The people who know the full story aren’t likely to share it.
What is clear is this: for a team that hasn’t played a playoff game since the summer of Covid and has a fanbase growing louder about the direction of the franchise, a change at the top of the front office lands as a welcome development.
For McConnell II, it opens a real opportunity to put his stamp on what comes next.
He became an alternate governor late in 2024 and, by several accounts, has been more involved with the day-to-day operation of the team since then. He’s still not a familiar public face around the Blue Jackets, but when he has stepped into the spotlight, he’s handled himself well. That includes his speech at Rick Nash’s jersey retirement celebration in 2022, an interview with broadcaster Jody Shelley in 2025, and other speaking appearances around Columbus over the years.
He’s also been open about how deep his hockey interest runs, and that matters. For a team president, that’s not a given.
There may be more significant responsibilities ahead, too. The assumption is that McConnell II will eventually become majority owner when his father steps aside.
For now, though, he has a chance to meet a frustrated fanbase at a moment when it’s looking for a real shift in the right direction.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Suddenly Face A Worrying Core Contract Problem
The Blue Jackets are used to living with long-term questions around the core, but the conversation around their roster has taken on a different edge as other teams around the league wrestle with their own franchise-player situations. Detroits debate over Dylan Larkin, Winnipegs uncertainty around Connor Hellebuyck and Minnesotas ongoing extension talk with Quinn Hughes all point to the same reality: top-end talent creates pressure well before a contract actually expires.
Columbus now finds itself staring at that same sort of crossroads with Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko, two players central to where the franchise is headed next. Werenski remains under team control for a while yet, while Marchenko is still in the midst of building his place in the organization, but the bigger issue is whether those timelines will ever line up cleanly with the Blue Jackets long-term plans. For a team trying to stabilize its core, the uncertainty is becoming hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Kirill Marchenko Just Gave Blue Jackets Fans More To Worry About
Kirill Marchenkos future in Columbus is suddenly looking like one of the more uncomfortable storylines surrounding the Blue Jackets. After questions about where things stand, the winger offered little certainty and kept his focus strictly on the ice, leaving fans to read between the lines at a time when every bit of roster news matters for a team trying to chart its next step.
The concern only grows because earlier reporting suggested Marchenkos camp was not expected to sign an extension with Columbus, and his demeanor did nothing to calm that chatter. When a key young player is this guarded about what comes next, it tends to fuel the kind of speculation the Blue Jackets would rather avoid until there is something more concrete to hold onto. [Read more 🡒]
Marchenkos First Camp Comments Wont Ease Blue Jackets Tension
Kirill Marchenko faced reporters at Blue Jackets training camp with the clubs contract chatter already hanging over him, and he kept his answers pointed toward hockey. After reports surfaced that he is unwilling to sign an extension, Marchenko talked about getting ready for the season and steered every question about his future back to the teams front office, leaving the matter in the hands of Don Waddell and Dan Milstein.
Rick Bowness at least sounded unbothered by what he has seen on the ice, saying he sat down with Marchenko this week and came away with no complaints about his attitude or work ethic. Still, the cleanest public lines from camp have not settled the bigger issue, and until the contract conversation moves beyond deflection, the tension around one of Columbus key forwards is going to keep following the team. [Read more 🡒]