Minnesota Wild lock up Dean Evason, coaching staff to contract extensions

Minnesota Wild general manager says Dean Evason is both a passionate and compassionate individual.

“Dean is a great communicator,” Guerin said of the Wild’s coach. “I think he is always upfront and honest with the guys. I think that probably goes back to his playing days. Communication is one of his strengths.

“There’s a lot to like with what Dean brings to the table.”

And he  has been rewarded by the organization for that.

Evason, 57, and the entire Wild coach were signed to multi-year extensions, in a move the team announced Thursday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s Winter Classic matchup at Target Field. 

Evason has guided the Wild to a 62-29-7 mark since his title moved from interim to head coach on July 13, 2020. He was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award in 2021, in a season in which the Wild posted a .670 winning percentage and pushed the Vegas Golden Knights to a Game 7 in a opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

The Wild enter Saturday’s matchup with the St. Louis Blues tied for second place in the Central Division, just a point behind the Blues. Minnesota, which hasn’t played a game since Dec. 20, also is tied for the third-most points in the Western Conference and has shown the ability to be a Stanley Cup contender through the first half of the NHL schedule.

“(The extension) has been clear for awhile in my mind. It was just getting around to do it,” Guerin said. “I have full confidence in Dean and the entire staff, they’ve proven they are very capable. I think the turnaround of our team is evident of that.”

Evason joined the Wild as an assistant coach in 2018 after six seasons as the coach of the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League (AHL).  He led the Admirals to a 242-161-53 mark in that span.

Evason didn’t want his extension announced until contract talks with the rest of the coaching staff were completed. It is part of the ‘team-first’ mentality that he stresses.

“I think you guys now now that’s what we do,” Evason said during a media availability session on Thursday. “That’s how we want to conduct ourselves as an organization. It’s not just me, it’s not just our coaching staff.

“Certainly it’s important for me personally as a head coach that all of our staff members have a voice  – that they are important,” Evason said. “Yeah, a lot of stuff falls on the head coach and general manager, but we have so much help from so many people.”

The Wild coaching staff includes assistants Darby Hendrickson, Brett McLean and Bob Woods, goaltending coach Frederic Chabot and  video coaches T.J. Jindra and Jonas Plumb.

Evason was asked what the extension means to him.

“I don’t know if relief is the right term or excited,” Evason said. “We’re all excited about moving forward We’ve taken steps forward but success is the Stanley Cup. You can have little steps along the way which we have, but we haven’t taken any big steps yet.

“That’s our goal – to win the Stanley Cup,” Evason said. “If it’s not, then what are we doing here? Hopefully we are on our way to doing that.”