Report: Wild expected to hire John Hynes as seventh head coach in franchise history
John Hynes, 48, will become the Minnesota Wild's seventh head coach in franchise history, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Hynes replaces Dean Evason — who was fired along with assistant coach Bob Woods the team announced Monday — behind the bench as the Wild hope to turn their season around before it's too late. The Wild (5-10-4) have lost seven games in a row and are 3-9-4 in their past 16 games and are approaching the league's basement.
With the Wild appearing to run out of answers, the timing of the coaching change comes the night before their important week starts. The Wild have three Central Division clashes this week against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, Nashville Predators on Thursday and Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Time will tell whether this is the spark the team needs right now.
Hynes has both NHL and AHL head coaching experience under his belt, having coached the New Jersey Devils from 2015-2019 and most recently with the Nashville Predators from 2020-23. Hynes' tenure in Nashville ended on May 30 when he was relieved of his duties.
Hynes' NHL head coaching record is 284-255-63 for a .524 points percentage in those 602 games. He has yet to win a playoff series behind an NHL bench and is 4-15 overall in the postseason between the Devils and Predators.
Before that, Hynes went 231-126-27 in the regular season and 33-31 in the playoffs in the AHL where he served as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins — the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate — for six seasons from 2009-2015 after his head coaching career began with USNDTP Juniors in 2003.
Now, he will be behind the Wild's bench with the hope of getting their season back on track in order to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
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