Boston Bruins
“I just feel very, very fortunate because not a lot of people get to do that for as long as I got to, so I feel very, very lucky.”
Charlie Coyle returned to Boston on Thursday as a member of the Blue Jackets. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
February 27, 2026 | 8:16 AM
3 minutes to read
Charlie Coyle had a job to do on Thursday.
The 33-year-old center has been one of the key cogs on a Blue Jackets team that has surprisingly inserted itself into the Eastern Conference playoff race — courtesy of a mid-season heater following the hiring of Rick Bowness as head coach.
A win against the Bruins on Thursday would have inched the Blue Jackets just two points behind Boston for the final wild-card spot in the conference.
But for all of the stakes at play during Thursday’s bout on Causeway Street, Coyle acknowledged the obvious.
There was plenty more racing through his mind ahead of his first game back in Boston — where he spent parts of seven seasons as a hometown product and fan favorite.
“Coming to the rink brings back a lot of good memories of playing here and playing for the team and, being around family and friends,” Coyle said Thursday ahead of Boston’s eventual 4-2 win over Columbus. “Just playing for the Boston Bruins, pretty fortunate and lucky to play here and play for so many great teams and learn from a lot of different players and coaches and just everything that comes with it here.
“I’m just very lucky, fortunate to have been here for so long and play in front of my family and friends and play for an Original Six team.”
The Weymouth native made the most of his extended stint playing for the team he grew up cheering for.
Acquired at 2019 NHL trade deadline in a swap with Minnesota, a big-bodied center in Coyle served as the missing piece in Boston’s pipeline of pivots — giving Boston a matchup nightmare and play-driver on the third line below Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci on the depth chart.
Coyle scored nine goals and posted 16 points in Boston’s run to the Stanley Cup Final that year, quickly ingratiating himself as a franchise fixture with the Bruins.
In each of his first six seasons with Boston, Coyle punched his ticket to the postseason — serving a similar third-line role during the club’s record-breaking run during the 2022-23 campaign.
When the wheels came off for the entire Bruins roster in 2024-25, Coyle was part of Boston’s extended roster teardown in March 2025 — dealt to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt, prospect Will Zellers (16 goals, 10 assists as a freshman at North Dakota), and a 2025 second-round pick (D Liam Pettersson).
Coyle was later traded to the Blue Jackets this past offseason, where he has turned into one of Columbus’ most reliable foot soldiers.
“I’ve coached against him his whole career, and I’ve always admired the way he plays the game — the right way. He plays the game hard,” Bowness said of Coyle, who has recorded 42 points in 57 games so far this year with the Blue Jackets. “Then you watch him from behind the bench, and you get to watch him around the room and get to watch him in practice.
“The man’s a true pro. He’s a better player than I thought he was, because now you see him in all kinds of situations. But if you’re a young guy in our league, you’re watching him play, you’ll learn an awful lot — just watching how he handles himself, how he practices, how he deals with his teammates, like he’s just a true pro. He’s just been a real delight to be around.”
Coyle received a video tribute during the first period of Thursday’s game against Boston, taking in a chorus of cheers from the TD Garden crowd before he – as expected — skated back onto the ice, ready to take on a taxing penalty-kill shift for his club.
Coyle — set to cash in this offseason as an unrestricted free agent — still believes that Columbus has the means to go on a run down this final stretch of play.
But Thursday’s return to Boston presented the ideal window for the South Shore product to reflect on a special chapter in his hockey career.
“The more you get away from it as time passes and you think more about it, I just feel very, very fortunate because not a lot of people get to do that for as long as I got to, so I feel very, very lucky,” Coyle said. “Nothing but grateful and just feeling very fortunate to be right here and what they did for me to trade for me and bring me in and keep me there as long as they did was just an awesome thing.
“I know I’ll look back on it as time goes throughout my life and think of all the good times and all the memories that I can bring with me.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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