Columbus Blue Jackets President and General Manager Don Waddell announced today that Dean Evason has agreed to a multi-year contract to serve as the club’s head coach in the National Hockey League. Evason will be introduced at a press conference at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m.
Evason, 59, has a 147-77-27 record in 251 games over parts of five seasons as head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. He was named interim coach of the club on Feb. 14, 2020, and was promoted to head coach on July 13, 2020, serving through Nov. 27, 2023. His .639 points percentage ranks fifth among active NHL coaches with 250 or more games behind the bench, while the Wild ranked eighth in the league in points percentage, seventh in goals per game (3.28) and 10th in wins during his tenure. He was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the NHL’s Coach of the Year, in 2020-21 and finished fourth in voting for the award in 2021-22. He led the Wild to Stanley Cup playoff appearances in each of his first four seasons behind the bench.
“Dean Evason brings to the coaching field what he brought to the game – passion, hard work and perseverance – and I couldn’t be happier that he will serve as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets,” Waddell said. “He has spent 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 bring out the best in our players and put us in a position to succeed as a team.”
Evason originally joined the Wild as an assistant coach on June 6, 2018. He spent the previous six seasons as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League from 2012 to 2018. He led the club to a 242-161-53 (.589) record in 456 games, including a 48-23-5 (101 points/.664) mark and a Central Division title in 2015–16. During his tenure, the Admirals appeared in the Calder Cup playoffs four times.
“I am extremely proud and honored to be named head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and I am very appreciative of the opportunity that Don and the McConnell family and Mike Priest have provided me,” Evason said. “This team has a great core and a lot of young talent. I am really looking forward to working with this group and helping us become a team that plays hard and competes at the highest level.”
Prior to joining Milwaukee, Evason served as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals from 2005 to 2012. During that time, Washington won four consecutive Southeast Division titles (2007–11), reached the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of his final five seasons (2007–12) and won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2009–10.
Evason began his coaching career in the Western Hockey League (WHL) as an assistant coach with the Calgary Hitmen (1998–99). He then served as head coach of the Kamloops Blazers for three seasons (1999–2002), the Vancouver Giants for two seasons (2002–04) and as associate head coach of the Hitmen in the 2004–05 season.
Internationally, Evason has represented Canada on numerous tournaments, both as a player and a coach. He competed in the 1984 IIHF World Junior Championships, captained the Canadian national team during the 1996-97 season, and led the club to a gold medal at the 1997 IIHF World Championships. He most recently served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Championships.
Evason, a center, was selected in the fifth round, 89th overall, by the Capitals in the 1982 NHL Draft. He finished his 13-year NHL career with 139 goals and 233 assists for 372 points with 1,000 penalty minutes in 803 games with the Capitals, Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames from 1983 to 1996. He played the last three seasons of his career in Europe, first with EV Zug in Switzerland (part of 1996–97) before spending two seasons with EV Landshut in Germany (1997–99).
He played junior hockey with the Spokane Flyers and Kamloops Junior Oilers in the WHL, recording 150 wins, 251 losses, and 401 losses in 200 games from 1980 to 1984. In 1982-83, he had 71 wins, 93 losses, and 164 losses in 70 games, and the following season, he added 49 wins, 88 losses, and 137 losses in 57 games to help Kamloops advance to the Memorial Cup. Evason was born on August 22, 1964 in Flin Flon, Manitoba. He is married to Genevieve and has three children, Bryce, Brianne, and Brooke, as well as two grandchildren, Connor and Hudson.
Media Availability – Tuesday, July 23
President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell and head coach Dean Evason will meet with the media in the Founders Club located on the suite level of Nationwide Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The session will be streamed live on the Blue Jackets YouTube page and will be recorded and posted to BlueJackets.com afterward.