Dean Evason

Dean Clement Evason (born August 22, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He previously served as head coach of the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Evason was selected by the Washington Capitals in the fifth round (89th overall) of the 1982 NHL entry draft. Evason was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, but grew up in Brandon, Manitoba.

Playing career Selected by the Capitals in the 1982 NHL entry draft, Evason played in the NHL from 1983 to 1996 for the Capitals, Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, and Calgary Flames. He was most successful as a member of the Hartford Whalers, where he compiled career highs with the team with 87 goals and 165 assists for 261 points. Evason was a 20-goal scorer twice with Hartford and was well known for his ability to get the puck to other players for goals during difficult situations on the ice.

Evason also played in Switzerland, for the Canadian National Team, and in the German Hockey League before retiring as an active player. In 803 NHL games, playing primarily as a defensive-minded forward, he had 139 goals and 233 assists.

International play

Evason first played for Canada junior team at the 1984 World Junior Championships, while during a terrific campaign for the Kamloops Junior Oilers. His selection to the squad was somewhat of a surprise, but he proved to be a productive player, recording six goals and three assists for nine points in seven games for the fourth-placed Canadian squad. The Canadians narrowly missed out on a medal to the third-placed Czechoslovakia junior team, losing 6–4 in their match against them that decided the medals. It would be 13 additional years before Evason was again selected to represent his country.

His final opportunity occurred in 1997 when Canada senior team's coach Andy Murray offered him a spot on the roster and the captaincy in exchange for playing a full season for the national team, which was then together for 10 months per year.

Coaching career Before joining the Capitals as an assistant coach, Evason spent many years in the Western Hockey League in various coaching capacities, starting in 1999 as an assistant with the Calgary Hitmen. He then became the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers from 1999 to 2002 and the Vancouver Giants from 2002 to 2004. He returned to the Hitmen for the 2004–05 season as a co-coach.

In 2005, he was hired by the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach. In 2012, he was hired by the Milwaukee Admirals as head coach, where he served for six seasons to become the team's second-winningest coach in their history. In 2018, he was hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach. On February 14, 2020, Evason was named interim head coach of the Wild.

On July 13, 2020, the Wild dropped the "interim" tag from Evason's title and named him the fifth full-time head coach in franchise history. After parts of five seasons with the team, the Wild fired Evason on November 27, 2023, after a 5–10–4 start capped by a seven-game losing streak.

On July 22, 2024, Evason was hired as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, succeeding Pascal Vincent. On January 12, 2026, Evason and assistant coach Steve McCarthy were fired by the Blue Jackets, with Evason replaced by Rick Bowness.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1980–81 Cowichan Valley Capitals BCJHL 50 20 51 71 39 — — — — — 1980–81 Spokane Flyers WHL 3 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1981–82 Spokane Flyers WHL 26 8 14 22 65 — — — — — 1981–82 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 44 21 55 76 47 4 2 1 3 0 1982–83 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 70 71 93 164 102 7 5 7 12 18 1983–84 Kamloops Junior Oilers WHL 57 49 88 137 89 17 21 20 41 33 1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 15 3 4 7 2 — — — — — 1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1984–85 Binghamton Whalers AHL 65 27 49 76 38 8 3 5 8 9 1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 55 20 28 48 65 10 1 4 5 10 1985–86 Binghamton Whalers AHL 26 9 17 26 29 — — — — — 1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 22 37 59 67 5 3 2 5 35 1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 77 10 18 28 115 6 1 1 2 2 1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 67 11 17 28 60 4 1 2 3 10 1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 78 18 25 43 138 7 2 2 4 22 1990–91 Hartford Whalers NHL 75 6 23 29 170 6 0 4 4 29 1991–92 San Jose Sharks NHL 74 11 15 26 99 — — — — — 1992–93 San Jose Sharks NHL 84 12 19 31 132 — — — — — 1993–94 Dallas Stars NHL 80 11 33 44 66 9 0 2 2 12 1994–95 Dallas Stars NHL 47 8 7 15 48 5 1 2 3 12 1995–96 Calgary Flames NHL 67 7 7 14 38 3 0 1 1 0 1996–97 EV Zug NLA 3 0 1 1 2 4 0 2 2 4 1997–98 EV Landshut DEL 42 8 22 30 38 6 0 3 3 18 1998–99 EV Landshut DEL 45 13 25 38 76 3 0 1 1 2NHL totals 803 139 233 372 1,000 55 9 20 29 132

Head coaching record WHL Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L OTL SOL Pts Finish W L Win% Result KAM 1999–00 72 36 30 5 1 78 4th in West 0 4 Lost in first round (SEA) KAM 2000–01 72 35 28 7 2 79 3rd in West 0 4 Lost in first round (SPK) KAM 2001–02 72 38 25 5 4 85 1st in B.C. 0 4 Lost in first round (KEL) VAN 2002–03 72 39 27 5 1 84 2nd in B.C. 2 4 Lost in first round (KOO) VAN 2003–04 72 34 28 8 2 78 3rd in B.C. 1 4 Lost in first round (VAN) CGY 2004–05 72 34 23 9 6 83 3rd in Central 7 4 Lost in second round (BDN)Total 432 216 161 39 16 487 10 24 6 playoff appearances

AHL Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L OTL SOL Pts Finish W L Win% Result MIL 2012–13 76 41 28 4 3 89 2nd in Midwest 1 3 Lost in first round (TEX) MIL 2013–14 76 39 24 6 7 91 3rd in Midwest 0 3 Lost in first round (TOR) MIL 2014–15 76 33 28 8 7 81 5th in Midwest - - - Did not qualify MIL 2015–16 76 48 23 3 2 101 1st in Central 0 3 Lost in first round (GR) MIL 2016–17 76 43 26 4 3 95 3rd in Central 0 3 Lost in first round (GR) MIL 2017–18 76 38 32 4 2 82 6th in Central - - - Did not qualifyTotal 456 242 161 29 24 539 1 12 4 playoff appearances

NHL Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win% Result MIN 2019–20 12* 8 4 0 (16) 6th in Central 1 3 Lost in qualifying round (VAN) MIN 2020–21 56 35 16 5 75 3rd in West 3 4 Lost in first round (VGK) MIN 2021–22 82 53 22 7 113 2nd in Central 2 4 Lost in first round (STL) MIN 2022–23 82 46 25 11 103 3rd in Central 2 4 Lost in first round (DAL) MIN 2023–24 19 5 10 4 (14) (fired) — — — —MIN total 251 147 77 27 8 15 4 playoff appearances CBJ 2024–25 82 40 33 9 89 4th in Metropolitan — — — Missed playoffs CBJ 2025–26 45 19 19 7 (45) (fired) — — — —CBJ total 127 59 52 16 — — — Total 378 206 129 43 8 15 4 playoff appearances Season shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019–20 season. Playoffs were played in August 2020 with a different format.

Awards and achievements WHL West First All-Star Team (1984) Honoured member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame