The Ottawa Senators fired their head coach D.J. Smith on Dec. 18 in Arizona and replaced him with Jacques Martin on an interim basis for the rest of the season. According to the Ottawa Sun [https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ottawa-senators/senators-begin-to-zero-in-on-coach-with-interviews-underway], the Senators have started the interview process for potential head coaching candidates. One of those coaches is a former Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason. He went 147-77-27 in 251 games with the Wild and brought the team to the playoffs four times. The Wild fired Evason after a 5-10-4 start to the 2023-24 season. He was replaced by current head coach John Hynes who finished 34-24-5 in his 63 games. The Wild missed the playoffs by 11 points. Evason, 59, still has a year left on his contract that the Wild are paying. He would be a great fit for the Senators who have missed the playoffs in the last seven seasons. The last time Ottawa made the playoffs was 2017. They lost in the Conference Finals that year to the eventual Stanley Cup Winning Pittsburgh Penguins. Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/] for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Wild's future looks bright RELATED
