Blue Jackets replace Evason amid disappointing season. Coach steered team to near-playoff berth last year, but struggles and goaltending woes led to this change.
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on Monday a coaching change. Head coach Dean Evason and assistant Steve McCarthy out and head coach Rick Bowness in.
Evason was hired by the Blue Jackets before the 2024-25 season. He led the Blue Jackets to an over-performing year and just missed the playoffs by two points.
The former Minnesota Wild head coach took a roster that, on paper didn't look like a playoff team, and had them right on the cusp of making it for the first time in five season. Unfortunately they missed the playoffs.
This year, the Blue Jackets have performed back to the expectations as they are 19-19-7. The same guys who had big seasons last year have struggled and Columbus is now eighth in the Metropolitan and 27th in the NHL.
Forward Kent Johnson had 24 goals and 57 points last season in 68 games. This season, he has four goals in 44 games. Sean Monahan had 19 goals and 57 points in 54 games last season and has just six goals and 16 assists in 41 games. Mathieu Olivier had 18 goals last season and has just four goals this year.
To me, this seems like a case where Evason is a victim of his own success.
Management thinks the team isn't performing to expectations so with 12 games before the Olympic break and the roster freeze, the Blue Jackets have hired Bowness to try and get them in a playoff spot.
One of the main factors outside of guys falling back to the mean, was goaltending. This season the Blue Jackets have not had the best goaltending and during the 2023-24 season when Evason was fired from the Wild, it was the same thing.
In the first 19 games for the season with the Wild, Evason got a .878 save percentage, 3.71 goals-against average and a -16.09 goals saved above expected, from his two goaltenders.
This season Evason has gotten a .897 save percentage, 3.13 goals-against average and a 0.9 goals saved above expected. Elvis Merzlikins has a -8.9 GSAx versus Jett Greaves who has a 9.8 GSAx.
Regardless, Evason is without a job and went 59-52-16 in 127 games behind the Blue Jackets' bench.
He was 147-77-27 in parts of five seasons with the Wild and made the playoffs four times.
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