COLUMBUS, Ohio — Across the Columbus Blue Jackets’ quarter-century of play — the too-few triumphs, the too many tragedies and a millennium’s worth of drama — the final days of Mike Babcock’s coaching tenure in September 2023 might be the most bizarre interlude.When news first broke on the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast that Babcock had been using his one-on-one meetings with Blue Jackets players to look through their cellphone pictures as a way of judging their off-ice lifestyle, the news was roundly and firmly dismissed by the NHL, by Blue Jackets management and by veteran players Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau.But in the days that followed, even as the Blue Jackets sent their prospects to rookie camp and prepared for training camp as if everything were normal, the NHL Players’ Association continued to speak with players who’d met with Babcock, both in his Nationwide Arena office and his residence in suburban Detroit.A clearer picture began to form, one that was more damning of Babcock’s actions.Other players on the roster, especially the Blue Jackets’ youngest players, either had far different interactions with Babcock than Jenner and Gaudreau did, or they weren’t willing to toe the company line quite like their veteran teammates.On Sept. 16, 2023, just 78 days after Babcock was signed to a two-year contract and just four days before the start of training camp, Babcock resigned from the Blue Jackets before he ran a single practice or stood behind the bench.All of this is about to be unearthed again.The NHL is set to investigate Babcock’s time with Columbus to determine whether the league will allow the Edmonton Oilers to hire Babcock, now that their pursuit of former Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy has been blocked by the Golden Knights.A lot has changed in Columbus in the not-quite-three years that have passed, so the key people the NHL will want to meet with this summer are now scattered all over North America and the world. President of hockey operations John Davidson has mostly retired, other than stepping in periodically as the color analyst in TV broadcasts. General manager Jarmo Kekäläinen was fired the following summer and is now managing the Buffalo Sabres. Only 10 players who were on the Blue Jackets’ opening-night roster in 2023 remain with the club.The Athletic sent text messages to several players this week seeking comment on their experiences with Babcock, as well as their thoughts about his possible return to the league, but none have responded.The controversy started with the Sept. 12, 2023, episode of the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast, on which former NHL tough guy Paul Bissonnette, now one of the NHL’s most recognizable faces as a broadcaster, mentioned almost flippantly that he’d heard Babcock was going through players’ phones during his get-to-know-you meetings before camp.