The Columbus Blue Jackets expect new coach Dean Evason to get the best out of their players with his "passion, hard work and tenacity."
Dean EvasonThe Columbus Blue Jackets named Dean Evason their newest coach.
Evason and the team agreed on a multi-year contract just more than one month after the Blue Jackets fired Pascal Vincent.
The 59-year-old will be back behind an NHL bench after spending parts of five seasons with the Minnesota Wild, finishing his time there with a 147-77-27 record before the team parted with him.
Evason also played 803 games in the NHL between 1983 and 1996, amassing 139 goals, 233 assists, 372 points and 1,002 penalty minutes as a forward.
“Dean Evason brings to coaching what he brought as a player – passion, hard work and tenacity – and I couldn’t be happier that he will serve as the next head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets,” new Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said in a news release. “He has spent well over two decades in this league as a player, assistant coach and head coach, and I believe that experience, combined with the outstanding person he is, will allow Dean to get the best out of our players and put us in a position to succeed as a team.”
Hailing from Flin Flon, Man., Evason's coaching career has lasted since 1998, starting as an assistant coach with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen and a head coach with the Kamloops Blazers in 1999. He was an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals between 2005 and 2012 and a head coach with AHL Milwaukee for six seasons afterward before joining the Wild, first as an assistant and then being promoted midway through his second year.
Evason was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award in his first full season at the helm in Minnesota and finished fourth in voting in 2021-22.
“I am incredibly proud and honored to be named the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and appreciate very much the opportunity that Don (Waddell), the McConnell family and (president) Mike Priest have extended to me,” Evason said in the announcement. “There is a great core and a lot of young talent on this team. I am really looking forward to working with this group and helping us become a team that plays extremely hard and competes at the highest level.”
With that, every NHL team once again has the head coaching position filled. The Blue Jackets parted with Vincent four days after the Sharks hired Ryan Warsofsky to fill the last vacancy at the time.
For more reaction to the hire, visit The Hockey News' Columbus Blue Jackets site. And do you think the team made the right hire? Vote here.
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