Major update on Dean Evason's job status
The Wild are struggling in a major way.
HockeyFeed
The Minnesota Wild have not performed to the expectations of general manager Bill Guerin so far this season, finding themselves second to last in the Central Division with a pedestrian record of 5-8-4. It wasn't long ago that Guerin was said to have had a heated meeting with the players, calling them out for their poor performance.
Understandably, that drew questions regarding the job security of head coach Dean Evason, who has been on the job since the termination of Bruce Boudreau in 2020. While Evason has guided the Wild to the postseason in every year of his tenure on the job, he's yet to advance past the 1st round.
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston is of the view that Evason's job isn't in danger - at least, not yet, and that Guerin is wanting the solution to come from within the dressing room rather than a change behind the bench.
“The sense is he’s not in imminent danger,” said Johnston on Tuesday’s edition of Insider Trading. “And I think that’s mainly because management looks at this roster and says, it’s not a trade away from being fixed, it’s not a coaching change away from being fixed. It’s up to the best players on this team to pull them through what’s been a difficult stretch. “Look at the roster, you’ve got Kirill Kaprizov with five goals, Marcus Foligno with two goals, Matt Boldy had 31 last year, he’s only got one goal on the season."
"So, I think right now, when Bill Guerin had a pretty heated meeting with his players here within the last week, the message is that it’s up to them to get themselves out of it, rather than a change coming from above.”
However, if the Wild don't turn things around, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see Minnesota become the 2nd NHL team this season to make a coaching change.
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