Kent Johnson didn't love every talk with Rick Bowness last season. Now the Blue Jackets forward says those blunt chats were exactly what he needed.
Johnson opened up on Wednesday about the coach he calls Bones. "All our conversations last year with Bones were awesome for me," he said.
Then came the honest part. "Obviously, it was hard to hear sometimes," he admitted. "The truth hurts when it's not what you want (to hear.)"
Bowness took over behind the Columbus bench in January. So those conversations happened in the middle of a season that was already slipping away from the young center.
RinkyReport posted the exchange, and Johnson's words land without spin: hard to hear, the truth hurts, "Bones was always unreal."
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He wasn't finished. "He just spoke the truth and really helped me," the Port Moody native said.
Johnson's 35-point drop hangs over Blue Jackets camp
The numbers explain why the talks stung. The center finished 2025-26 with seven goals and 22 points in 76 games, going minus-8.
One year earlier, he'd broken out with 24 goals and 57 points over 68 games.
Consistency has been the knock before. He put up 40 points in 2022-23, then slipped to 16 in 42 games the following season.
What changed last winter? The stat sheet doesn't say, but a fall like that earns a young player some uncomfortable meetings.
Bowness was right to be blunt. He's the dentist who tells you about the cavity instead of handing you a lollipop and waving you out the door.
And the Blue Jackets have a lot riding on this. Columbus drafted him fifth overall in 2021, and Don Waddell inherited that bet when he took over the front office.
Career-wise, he sits at 138 points over 274 NHL games. Useful, sure, but nowhere near what a top-five pick is supposed to deliver.
He's still only 23, with time to prove 2024-25 was the real version.
Johnson didn't dress last night as Columbus fell 5-1 in Buffalo.
The Blue Jackets host Pittsburgh on Thursday. The regular season begins October 1 at home against Buffalo, the same team that just handled them.
Johnson says he heard the truth. Now Bowness gets to find out whether his center can play his way into a better one.
Is Rick Bowness the right coach to get Kent Johnson back to 57 points?
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