When Don Waddell took over as president of hockey operations and general manager of the Blue Jackets last May, he had an important decision to make.
He also didn’t want to rush it.
When it came to deciding on who would coach the Blue Jackets, Waddell took his time. First, he made the decision a few weeks into his tenure to part ways with head coach Pascal Vincent, then went through the NHL draft and the start of free agency without a head coach in place.
Waddell wanted to make sure he had the right guy, and he made his choice in mid-July that it would be Dean Evason. There was a key reason why.
“Every time I talked to Dean and then when I interviewed Dean, the passion he had to not just coach in the NHL but to coach the Blue Jackets, that stuck with me every time,” Waddell told BlueJackets.com in February. “He wanted to be head coach of the Blue Jackets.”
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With one season under his belt, Evason proved to be the right choice. The Blue Jackets won 13 more games and added 23 points in the standings from 2023-24, coming one victory away from a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In addition, Evason and his staff helped pilot the team through one of the most difficult periods imaginable after the offseason passing of star forward Johnny Gaudreau.
It took a coach that could strike the right note in so many ways to help shepherd the Blue Jackets on and off the ice, but Evason did just that. A 15-year professional on the ice before embarking on a 25-year career behind the bench, Evason has been everywhere and done just about everything in the sport.
All of those experiences have helped mold Evason into a leader who blends intensity and approachability. Above all, the communication is clear, as Evason makes it known what he and his staff expect from players and then help get them to get to that point.
“Right from speaking to him the first time and day one of training camp, I think it’s about the team and that buy-in of everybody doing whatever they can for the team,” captain Boone Jenner said. “Everybody has a spot and a role and a place, and I think we just took off from there and what he brought that way. The style of play, he kind of nailed down how we want to play. Doesn’t matter where, when, what the situation is, we show up and play our style. I think he’s a big reason for that.”
What might be most notable about Evason’s approach is how he got the best out of both veterans and the team’s young core of players. Such key players as Zach Werenski and Mathieu Olivier had career years, while Sean Monahan was on pace to near or pass a career high in points had he not missed two months with injury. On the other side of the coin, young building blocks Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, Dmitri Voronkov and Kent Johnson all set career highs in goals and points.
So how was Evason able to get the most out of just about everyone on the roster? James van Riemsdyk has been around the league a long time, playing under 11 head coaches in 15 seasons before coming to Columbus, and said Evason’s approach to how he handles players allows them to shine.
“His temperament is great,” van Riemsdyk said. “Coming in, he had like that face – he always had that stern look on his face, not knowing him from before. But just seeing how much he likes to have fun around the rink and stuff like that, he brings a perfect mix of lightness that you need over the course of a long season, but the intensity of getting going when you need that too.
“He’s great about giving you the leash to let you do what you do as a player. Obviously there’s times when you need to get reeled in, but I think he really lets you go out there and play and play to your instincts and lets you work through things and figure things out. I think that’s important.
“Obviously we had a young team, so there’s times when letting them work through different things is important because you don’t want to take the stick out of someone’s hands. He has a great balance for that, and I think that’s why a lot of our younger players were able to thrive under him.”
For the younger CBJ players, Evason's tenure brought a sense of stability as well. Columbus had three head coaches the previous two seasons, which can be a bit of a roller coaster for players just entering the league, but Evason’s arrival brought in a head coach who delivers the same message on a nightly basis.
“He is a good coach,” Marchenko said. “He showed me what he wants to see in my game, and he’s tried to challenge me. It’s really nice chemistry with him right now, and I like to work with him. He has helped me a lot. He told me about small things in the game, small parts of the game, and the way I can play and what style of hockey, and it’s helped me a lot. I just tried to do it over the season.”
Evason and his staff – including assistants Scott Ford, Mike Haviland, Steve McCarthy and Jared Boll as well as goalie coach Niklas Backstrom – saw major growth out of the team this season. They believe that with a year under their belts, the Blue Jackets have a chance to be even better going forward because the familiarity will be there from day one.
“We get to training camp this year and we have to implement all our systems,” Evason said. “The players have to get to know not only who I am but the coaching staff. There’s no gray area next year. We don’t have to go through that process. They know what to expect. They know the accountability that we as an organization, as a staff, as Don’s guys and us as a coaching staff are holding the players accountable.”
