As the Blue Jackets bring on Dean Evason, a dive into his head coaching record

Evason was a professional hockey player in various leagues over the course of 15 seasons. He bounced around between the AHL and NHL. He then finished his professional career in Europe.

As a player, Evason was a hard working player and was a decent bottom six forward. Once his playing career ended, his head coaching career started. That's where he began to make a name for himself in the hockey world.

Dean began his head coaching career in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He coached in the league for six seasons with the Kamloops Blazers, Vancouver Giants, and Calgary Hitmen. He found regular season success, amassing a 216-161-55 record, which is a 56% points percentage.

That led to all six of his teams qualifying for the WHL playoffs. Unfortunately for Evason, all of those teams lost in the first round of the playoffs except his 2004-2005 Calgary team, which lost in the second round. His playoff record was 10-24 overall.

Dean moved up to the AHL and coached the Milwaukee Admirals for six seasons from 2012-2018. During his time in the AHL, he amassed a 242-161-53 record, which is a 59% points percentage. The Admirals qualified for the playoffs in 4 of his 6 seasons behind the bench.

Despite his good regular season record, he finished with a 1-12 record in those 4 playoff appearances as the Admirals were eliminated in first round each of those playoff appearances.

Dean got his only NHL head coaching job with the Minnesota Wild during the 2019-2020 season. He was the coach of the Wild for four and a half seasons. In that time, he made the Stanley Cup playoffs four times. He was fired after a poor start to his fifth season.

He had a record of 147-77-27, which is a 64% points percentage. Despite his regular season success, the Wild were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round of each of their playoff appearances with Evason behind the bench. He had a Stanley Cup Playoffs record of 8-15 with the Wild.

Dean Evason has been a head coach of a hockey team at any level for a total of 17 seasons. This much is clear: he knows how to get his teams to play well in the regular season and make the playoffs. His teams made the playoffs in 14 of the 17 seasons.

However, his record in the playoffs is less than spectacular. His teams have lost in the first round of the playoffs in 13 of the 14 playoff appearances. In the only appearance that he advanced past the first round, his team lost in the second round. As good of a coach that he is in the regular season, he doesn’t appear to be as good in the playoffs.

For an organization that hopes to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and win a Stanley Cup, Dean Evason is an interesting coach to be the head coach. His excellent track record of regular season success makes him an excellent candidate to get the Blue Jackets back to the playoffs at some point.

But is he the coach who can bring a Stanley Cup to the Buckeye State? His playoff track record indicates that he may not. Only time will tell.