Columbus Blue Jackets introduce Dean Evason as head coach: 5 takeaways
Dressed in a crisp blue suit with blue-and-white tie and shiny Blue Jackets lapel pin, Dean Evason was officially introduced to Columbus on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason: 3 things to know
The 11th head coach in the team’s quarter century of existence — fourth since John Tortorella left in April 2021 — met with reporters for nearly an hour inside the arena’s Founder’s Club. Alongside him sat Don Waddell, who had done the same thing almost two months earlier after becoming the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations and general manager.
The Jackets now have two fresh faces in key positions, each tasked with doing something that has vexed this organization for most of its NHL life span. Waddell’s job is providing a competitive roster, while Evason’s will be turning it into a road map leading back to the postseason, which the Blue Jackets haven’t experienced since the NHL’s COVID-19 altered postseason in 2020.
“When we went through the process, the one thing that Dean really brought to the table, that I really knew after being here for a month and a half that we needed, was the passion, the structure, the process he’s going to put in place to make the players accountable,” Waddell said. “We all talked about it back when I was hired. That was an important part of this organization being able to take the next step. We felt that we have some good young players to go with our veterans, but we needed a better structure.”
Enter Evason, 59, fresh off a stint of four-plus seasons running the Minnesota Wild’s bench. Where others see a rebuilding team, Evason sees promise.
“If you talk with anybody in the NHL, they’ll tell you what an incredible city this is ... the people,” he said. “That’s not lost on me or my family, 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 Blue Jackets and have success."
Here are five takeaways from yet another big offseason press conference for the Blue Jackets:
Dean Evason’s ‘passion’ for coaching reminiscent of Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour
Waddell was at the helm of the Carolina Hurricanes’ executive suite when former star forward Rod Brind’Amour was hired to run the bench in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It had immediate results thanks to Brind’Amour having endless energy for the job that included instituting a similar playing style that applies pressure on the puck in all three zones. While speaking with Evason during the lengthy interview process, Waddell began to feel like he’d found himself another Brind’Amour type of coach.
“I don’t want to compare coaches, but they have similar attributes,” Waddell said. “Their process of thinking about the game is similar. Rod would say the same thing Dean says: ‘We’re going to be the hardest working team in the league.’ And I thought (we) were. When I watched Dean’s team, I thought they were very hard-working too. There’s lots of similarities. Obviously, they have different styles of how they play and teach, as coaches, but both will make sure their teams are prepared very well.”
Dean Evason plans to make Columbus Blue Jackets more aggressive
Evason’s “passion” for coaching isn’t the only similarity to Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes. His preferred playing style is to have the Blue Jackets resembling their Metropolitan Division rivals from North Carolina.
Their goal will be to unleash an effective forecheck to harass opposing teams inside the opposing blue line, creating turnovers, while also forcing the issue on the puck inside their own zone. It’s a demanding style that will make legs and lungs burn for players on both sides of the ice, but it can be a highly effective strategy, especially for teams with aggressive young players.
“Would we want to be an offensive team? Sure, 100%,” Evason said. “Do we want to score off the rush every single time? 100%. I would love our goals to be super pretty or ‘Tic-Tac-Toe,’ or drive the net and hit the late (trailing defenseman) ... but the (opposing) players are really good, so, sometimes you’ve got to dump the puck in.”
And then?
“If we can be the best forechecking team to get the puck back, now we can do what we want,” Evason said. “Do we want to be real good in the neutral zone? Yeah, of course. Do we want to keep the puck out of the net and be a defensive team? Of course, right? So, everything will be based on pressure. We want to put pressure on teams, defensive zone, neutral zone, offensive zone ... with the detail of our sticks, with the detail of our structure, systematically, to allow us to get up the ice and score goals.”
Dean Evason eager to make Columbus Blue Jackets' debut on the road against Minnesota Wild, his former team
Evason’s honest answers were refreshing throughout his press conference. He’s not afraid to say things with a blunt delivery and doesn’t lean heavily on hockey “coach speak” clichés as a crutch.
He offered to introduce one reporter to his mother when she makes it to Columbus as evidence for his source of energetic passion for the game. He laughed and agreed with Waddell in saying Brind’Amour was a better player. He spoke about a Stanley Cup dream that now includes him hoisting the NHL’s prized chalice overhead while wearing a “blue suit.”
And then Evason was asked his thoughts about making his Blue Jackets coaching debut Oct. 10 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota against the Minnesota Wild – who fired him early last season with a year left on his contract.
“You know what I dislike is when ex-coaches go in and say, ‘Oh, this game means nothing to me,’” Evason said. “That’s such bull. Of course it means something to you, right? They just fired me last year. Of course it means something. Do we want to win any more than we want to win Game 2? No. You want to win every game, but does it mean something? Yeah, absolutely."
Columbus Blue Jackets’ Dean Evason has impressive history coaching Russian forwards
While working seven seasons as an NHL assistant with the Washington Capitals, Evason helped coach Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin during some of his prime years.
Evason then enjoyed working the past two years in Minnesota with Kirill Kaprizov, another highly skilled Russian forward who scores a lot of goals. The Blue Jackets have three Russian forwards in Yegor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko and Dmitry Voronkov, not to mention defenseman Ivan Provorov and goalie Daniil Tarasov.
Asked about coaching talented young players, Evason couldn’t help but crack a joke about his success coaching Russians.
“Every individual is different,” he said. “You can’t teach Kirill Kaprizov like you do Alex Ovechkin ... although I taught both of them everything they know. I’m pretty good with Russians, clearly – especially Ovie’s shot. We worked a lot on that.”
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason set to meet with assistants, call players
It’s already getting late in the NHL’s offseason schedule, so Evason won’t waste time getting to know his new team.
He planned to meet with the Jackets’ current assistant coaches Tuesday and begin making calls with players Wednesday. There’s no time to waste in either pursuit. The Blue Jackets recently decided not to renew the expiring contract of assistant Josef Boumedienne, but assistants Mark Recchi, Steve McCarthy, Jared Boll and goalie coach Niklas Backstrom still have a year left on their deals.
Will all make the cut or will Evason make changes?
“We have to put a staff together,” Evason said. “Have I started that? No. We just flew in (Monday) night, but we’re getting after it as soon as we leave here to start that process. We’ve got a lot of things to get to before training camp, but fortunately I’ve been through a lot of training camps, so your structure will be the same. It’ll just be how we, with our coaching staff, detail how we’re going to play.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 takeaways from Dean Evason's introduction as Blue Jackets' coach
