Dean Evason

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Canadian ice hockey player and coach

title: "Dean Evason" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1964-births", "living-people", "binghamton-whalers-players", "calgary-flames-players", "canadian-expatriate-ice-hockey-players-in-the-united-states", "canadian-ice-hockey-centres", "canadian-ice-hockey-coaches", "canadian-people-of-icelandic-descent", "columbus-blue-jackets-coaches", "cowichan-valley-capitals-players", "dallas-stars-players", "ev-landshut-players", "ev-zug-players", "hartford-whalers-players", "20th-century-canadian-sportsmen", "ice-hockey-people-from-brandon,-manitoba", "kamloops-blazers-coaches", "kamloops-junior-oilers-players", "minnesota-wild-coaches", "san-jose-sharks-players", "spokane-chiefs-players", "ice-hockey-people-from-flin-flon", "vancouver-giants-coaches", "washington-capitals-coaches", "washington-capitals-draft-picks", "washington-capitals-players"] description: "Canadian ice hockey player and coach" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Evason" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian ice hockey player and coach ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ice hockey biography"]

Field	Value
name	Dean Evason
image	Dean Evason.jpg
image_size	230px
caption	Evason coaching the Milwaukee Admirals in 2012
birth_date
birth_place	Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
height_ft	5
height_in	10
weight_lb	175
position	Centre
shoots	Right
played_for	Washington Capitals
Hartford Whalers
San Jose Sharks
Dallas Stars
Calgary Flames
EV Zug
EV Landshut
league_coach	NHL
coached_for	Minnesota Wild
Columbus Blue Jackets
ntl_team	CAN
draft	89th overall
draft_year	1982
draft_team	Washington Capitals
career_start	1983
career_end	1999
career_start_coach	1999
::

| name = Dean Evason | image = Dean Evason.jpg | image_size = 230px | caption = Evason coaching the Milwaukee Admirals in 2012 | birth_date = | birth_place = Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 10 | weight_lb = 175 | position = Centre | shoots = Right | played_for = Washington Capitals Hartford Whalers San Jose Sharks Dallas Stars Calgary Flames EV Zug EV Landshut | league_coach = NHL | team_coach = | coached_for = Minnesota Wild Columbus Blue Jackets | ntl_team = CAN | draft = 89th overall | draft_year = 1982 | draft_team = Washington Capitals | career_start = 1983 | career_end = 1999 | career_start_coach = 1999 | career_end_coach = 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. Evason was the only non-NHL player on the Canadian roster during the 1997 World Championships that won their first World Championships in three years, beating Sweden in the final, 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. 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

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Regular season	Playoffs	Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A
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	2
::

Head coaching record

WHL

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Team	Year	Regular season	Postseason	G	W	L	OTL	SOL	Finish
72	36	30	5	1	78	4th in West	0	4	Lost in first round (SEA)
72	35	28	7	2	79	3rd in West	0	4	Lost in first round (SPK)
72	38	25	5	4	85	1st in B.C.	0	4	Lost in first round (KEL)
72	39	27	5	1	84	2nd in B.C.	2	4	Lost in first round (KOO)
72	34	28	8	2	78	3rd in B.C.	1	4	Lost in first round (VAN)
72	34	23	9	6	83	3rd in Central	7	4	Lost in second round (BDN)
::

AHL

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Team	Year	Regular season	Postseason	G	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	Finish
76	41	28	4	3	89	2nd in Midwest	1	3		Lost in first round (TEX)
76	39	24	6	7	91	3rd in Midwest	0	3		Lost in first round (TOR)
76	33	28	8	7	81	5th in Midwest	-	-	-	Did not qualify
76	48	23	3	2	101	1st in Central	0	3		Lost in first round (GR)
76	43	26	4	3	95	3rd in Central	0	3		Lost in first round (GR)
76	38	32	4	2	82	6th in Central	-	-	-	Did not qualify
::

NHL

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Team	Year	Regular season	Postseason	G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Finish
12*	8	4	0	(16)	6th in Central	1	3		Lost in qualifying round (VAN)
56	35	16	5	75	3rd in West	3	4		Lost in first round (VGK)
82	53	22	7	113	2nd in Central	2	4		Lost in first round (STL)
82	46	25	11	103	3rd in Central	2	4		Lost in first round (DAL)
19	5	10	4	(14)	(fired)	—	—	—	—
82	40	33	9	89	4th in Metropolitan	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
45	19	19	7	(45)	(fired)	—	—	—	—
::

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

References

Joyce, Gare, ed. Hockey Canada: Thirty Years of Going for Gold at the World Juniors. Toronto ON: Penguin Group (Canada), 2011. 18-21. Print.
"Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats 1983-1984".
"Elite Prospects - WC Stats 1996-1997".
(6 June 2018). "Dean Evason Hired by Minnesota Wild as Assistant Coach".
(February 14, 2020). "Wild names Dean Evason Interim Head Coach".
(July 13, 2020). "Wild names Dean Evason full-time head coach".
(2023-11-26). "Head Coach Dean Evason and Assistant Coach Bob Woods Relieved of Duties".
(November 27, 2023). "Evason fired as Wild coach, no replacement named".
(July 22, 2024). "Evason hired as Blue Jackets coach, replaces Vincent".
(January 12, 2026). "Evason fired as Blue Jackets coach, replaced by Bowness".
(January 12, 2026). "Blue Jackets part ways with head coach Dean Evason, assistant coach Steve McCarthy, name Rick Bowness head coach".

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