According to Josh Erickson of Professional hockey rumors On Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets named Dean Evason of Flin Flon, Manitoba, as their next head coach. This will be Evason’s second head coaching job in the National Hockey League. He previously coached the Minnesota Wild for five seasons from 2020-2023.
Evason coached the Wild in 251 games, producing 147 wins, 77 losses in regulation and 27 losses in overtime, for an impressive .639 winning percentage. The Wild reached the 100-point mark twice with Evason in charge. Minnesota scored 113 points in 2021-22 and 103 points in 2022-23.
Although the Wild have had regular-season success with Evason as head coach, they have failed to win a Stanley Cup playoff series. Minnesota was swept by the Vancouver Canucks in the qualifying round in 2019-20, then was eliminated in the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020-21, the St. Louis Blues in 2021-22 and the Dallas Stars in 2022-23.
Evason takes over in Columbus from Pascal Vincent of Laval, Quebec. Vincent was fired on June 17 after the Blue Jackets scored the fewest points in the Eastern Conference with 66 points.
As a player, Evason played 13 seasons as a center in the NHL from 1983 to 1996. He played for the Washington Capitals for two seasons from 1983 to 1985, for the Hartford Whalers for seven seasons from 1985 to 1991, for the San Jose Sharks for two seasons from 1991 to 1993, for the Dallas Stars for two seasons from 1993 to 1995, and for the Calgary Flames for one season from 1995 to 1996.
In 803 games, Evason scored 139 goals and 233 assists for 372 points. He had a -92 record with 1,002 penalty minutes, 65 power play points, 9 shorthanded points, 14 game-winning goals and 1,135 shots on goal.
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