Dean Evason

Dean Clement Evason (born August 22, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously served as head coach of the Minnesota Wild. 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.

Dean Evason
Evason coaching the Milwaukee Admirals in 2012
Born	(1964-08-22) August 22, 1964 Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Washington Capitals Hartford Whalers San Jose Sharks Dallas Stars Calgary Flames EV Zug EV Landshut
Current NHL coach	Columbus Blue Jackets
Coached for	Minnesota Wild
National team	Canada
NHL draft	89th overall, 1982 Washington Capitals
Playing career	1983–1999
Coaching career	1999–present

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

Medal record
Representing Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
	1997 Finland

Evason first played for Canada at the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey 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 nine points in seven games for the fourth-place Canadian squad. The Canadians narrowly missed out on a medal to the third-place Czechoslovakian team, losing 6-4 in their match against them that decided the medals. It would be thirteen additional years before Evason was again selected to represent his country.

His final opportunity occurred in 1997 when Canadian national team 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 ten months per year. Evason was the only non-NHL player on the Canadian roster that won their first World Championships in three years, beating Sweden in the finals, scoring two goals and adding three assists during the tournament.

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.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
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 Chiefs	WHL		3	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Spokane Chiefs	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	2
NHL 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	.000	Lost in first round (SEA)
KAM	2000–01	72	35	28	7	2	79	3rd in West	0	4	.000	Lost in first round (SPK)
KAM	2001–02	72	38	25	5	4	85	1st in B.C.	0	4	.000	Lost in first round (KEL)
VAN	2002–03	72	39	27	5	1	84	2nd in B.C.	2	4	.333	Lost in first round (KOO)
VAN	2003–04	72	34	28	8	2	78	3rd in B.C.	1	4	.200	Lost in first round (VAN)
CGY	2004–05	72	34	23	9	6	83	3rd in Central	7	4	.636	Lost in second round (BDN)
Total		432	216	161	39	16	487		10	24	.294	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	.250	Lost in first round (TEX)
MIL	2013–14	76	39	24	6	7	91	3rd in Midwest	0	3	.000	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	.000	Lost in first round (GR)
MIL	2016–17	76	43	26	4	3	95	3rd in Central	0	3	.000	Lost in first round (GR)
MIL	2017–18	76	38	32	4	2	82	6th in Central	-	-	-	Did not qualify
Total		456	242	161	29	24	539		1	12	.077	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	.250	Lost in qualifying round (VAN)
MIN	2020–21	56	35	16	5	75	3rd in West	3	4	.429	Lost in first round (VGK)
MIN	2021–22	82	53	22	7	113	2nd in Central	2	4	.333	Lost in first round (STL)
MIN	2022–23	82	46	25	11	103	3rd in Central	2	4	.333	Lost in first round (DAL)
MIN	2023–24	19	5	10	4	(14)	(fired)	—	—	—	—
Total		251	147	77	27			8	15	.348	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

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com