Evason hired as Blue Jackets coach, replaces Vincent

Dean Evason was hired as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

The 59-year-old replaces Pascal Vincent and will coach for the second time in the NHL. He was fired by the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 27, 2023.

Evason was 147-77-27 in five seasons since replacing Bruce Boudreau on Feb. 14, 2020. He was 8-15 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying each of his four previous seasons, but Minnesota never advanced past the first round.

“If you talk to anyone around the National Hockey League, or probably anyone in this room, they talk about what an incredible city this is, what incredible people are here,” Evason said Tuesday. “And that's not lost on us. It's not lost on my wife and my family for sure. But we're here to win hockey games. We're here to do a job. I'm not here to live -- I’m here to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets and I'm here to have success. So, that excites me.”

Vincent was fired June 17 after the Blue Jackets (27-43-12) finished last in the Metropolitan Division in his only season. They've finished last in the Eastern Conference in each of the past two seasons and no higher than sixth in their division since 2019-20.

Don Waddell was hired as Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager May 28 after he stepped down from the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes four days earlier.

“The one thing that Dean really brought to the table that I really knew after being here for a month and a half is what we needed was the passion, the structure, the process he’s going to put in place to make the players accountable,” Waddell said. “When I was hired, we talked about that being an important part if this organization is going to take the next step. We have some good young players to go with our veterans, but we needed a better structure.”

Several of the Blue Jackets' key players are signed for at least two more seasons, including forwards Johnny Gaudreau (five seasons), Boone Jenner (two) and Patrik Laine (two), defensemen Zach Werenski (four) and Damon Severson (seven), and goalie Elvis Merzlikins (three). They selected forward Cayden Lindstrom with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

“The foundation is set here, it just needs to be built upon and that's what our job is,” Evason said. “Don and I believe we are going to accomplish that goal.”

Since the regular season ended, the Buffalo Sabres hired Lindy Ruff as coach April 22, Travis Green joined the Ottawa Senators on May 7, the Toronto Maple Leafs named Craig Berube to the position May 17, Sheldon Keefe was hired by the New Jersey Devils on May 23, Scott Arniel became coach of the Winnipeg Jets the next day, Dan Bylsma returned to the NHL as Seattle Kraken coach May 28 and the San Jose Sharks hired Ryan Warsofsky on June 13.

“There are 32 jobs in the NHL,” Evason said. “It’s not lost how special this is, how appreciative I am for the opportunity.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Craig Merz contributed to this report