Blue Jackets bring in Evason as head coach

*Photo from NHL.com*

   There's a new head man in town. The Columbus Blue Jackets have hired Dean Evason as the franchise's next head coach, according to an announcement by the team Monday afternoon.

   Columbus president and GM Don Waddell said in a statement "Dean Evason brings to coaching what he brought as a player; passion, hard work and tenacity, and I couldn’t be happier that he will serve as the next head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has spent well 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 get the best out of our players and put us in a position to succeed as a team."

   It took a long time for the Blue Jackets to find their head coach, but they've got one. Evason replaces Pascal Vincent as head coach in Columbus, who was fired in June after one season as head coach. Columbus went 27-43-12 in Vincent's one season as head coach.

   Evason previously coached the Minnesota Wild, where he amassed a 147-77-27 in parts of 5 seasons as head coach. He led the Wild to the playoffs in each of his 3 full seasons as head coach but was fired last season after a 5-10-4 start. He became head coach in 2019-2020 after Bruce Boudreau was fired.

   Despite the good regular season record, Evason was never able to get it done in the playoffs. He led the Wild to the playoffs 4 times, but the team never advanced past the first round, going a combined 8-15 in the playoffs. Evason previously was the head coach of the AHL Milwaukee Admirals, leading them to the playoffs 4 times and a Central Division title in 2015-2016.

   In a statement, Evason said "I am incredibly proud and honored to be named the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and appreciate very much the opportunity that Don, the McConnell family and Mike Priest have extended to me. There is a great core and a lot of young talent on this team. I am really looking forward to working with this group and helping us become a team that plays extremely hard and competes at the highest level."

   Evason will become the 3rd head coach who has coached at least one game for the team in 4 seasons. He's technically the 4th head coach in 4 seasons, as the Blue Jackets hired Mike Babcock, only for him to resign amid a scandal before training camp, leading them to hire Vincent as head coach.