The Blue Jackets did not re-sign Boone Jenner during the offseason, which left the club without a captain. Head Coach Rick Bowness decided not to designate a captain for the 2026-27 season.
Instead, he elected to have multiple alternate captains with the “A” being rotated through the season. Those alternate captains include Zach Werenski, Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle, Sean Monahan, and Mathieu Olivier.
Going into the season, all those players were worthy of wearing the “A” on their jersey and all could vie for the full-time captaincy in the future. However, through the first 5 games, I believe that Olivier should be stripped of the “A”. In multiple games, Olivier has made a poor decision that has hurt the team.
In the game against St. Louis on 10/10, Olivier decided to fight Ross Johnston at the beginning of the 2nd period. Being down 2-0, that fight gave the Blues some life, which resulted in a 3-goal 2nd period for the Blues. The CBJ ended up losing 5-3 due to a bad 2nd period.
In the game against Florida on 10/13, Olivier decided to spear Uvis Balinskis in a rather tender area. Balinskis didn’t do much to Olivier for a retaliation of that magnitude. That spear resulted in a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. Later, Olivier was fined $5,000 by Player Safety.
Columbus’ Mathieu Olivier has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for slashing Florida’s Uvis Balinskis.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 14, 2026
The Blue Jackets were already down 3-1 and needed to find some life. Instead, Florida scored on the power play and essentially put the game away. Plus, Olivier was lost for the remainder of the game. Not a good move to try to get back into a game that was still within reach. In fact, that power-play goal turned out to be the game winner.
Further back, in a win against Buffalo on 10/1, Olivier received an unsportsmanlike penalty because he put the puck in the net after the whistle blew and then he began whaling away on Zach Metsa. While the penalty didn’t result in a goal, it was not a smart decision to make when the team is holding on to a 3-2 lead.
While Olivier’s mistakes weren’t the sole reason the team lost any games, they didn’t help the team in any manner. In fact, most of those mistakes gave the opposing team momentum that the CBJ could never recapture. None of those plays show true leadership. On the contrary, those decisions were just ill-advised. A captain would make smarter decisions in each of those situations.
Don’t misunderstand me: I like Olivier. He is a good player and a good piece for this team. He just hasn’t shown the on-ice leadership that is required of an alternate captain. He needs to make more mature decisions on the ice; decisions that are advantageous for the CBJ. Once he does that, I think he is worthy of being an alternate captain. But until then, I think the “A” should be taken away.
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