Wild coach Dean Evason’s seat is at a boiling point. Is it time for him to go? Ask Russo and Smith, part 1
It has been a miserable start to the season for the Minnesota Wild , and with that comes understandable angst from a fan base that hasn’t seen its team get past the second round since 2003 and past the first round since 2015.
Making matters worse is the fact that the Wild, who are 30th in the 32-team NHL in points and have the second-fewest wins in the NHL (five in 19 games), have a cap-strapped roster that was only made more inflexible by training camp extensions to three veterans.
With that comes a lot of questions, starting with how hot the seat is underneath Dean Evason, whether the assistants could also take the blame for this mess and how much responsibility roster architect Bill Guerin needs to accept.
Our sense is this: While Evason was relatively safe a few days ago, that has changed after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings , the Wild’s 13th loss in 16 games and seventh in a row.
There has been nothing compelling about this team this season and it’s wearing on everyone.
Kirill Kaprizov has two even-strength goals, Matt Boldy one. Role players Marcus Johansson (one goal on the season, no shots the past two games), Freddy Gaudreau (zero points in nine games), Ryan Hartman (seven goals but none in the past seven games and a suspension forthcoming), Marcus Foligno (two goals), Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar (seven combined points) aren’t producing. The Wild are getting little point production from their defensemen, especially the oddly scoreless Jared Spurgeon . Their goalies are at or near the bottom of every statistical category, especially the most important one: victories.
Something has to give soon, and this could land at the feet of Evason.
That’s why Part 1 of our two-part mailbag largely revolves around Evason and Guerin. Part 2 will follow with questions regarding the players.
(Note: Some questions are edited lightly for length and clarity.)
I understand Dean isn’t on the hot seat right now but what is his shelf life? If Dean’s voice in the room isn’t stale now, it sure might be in two more years after the team gets through the worst of the cap hits. — Carter W.
Honestly, it sounds like Evason not being on the hot seat has changed. Two days ago, nothing felt imminent, because the Wild had played better the past three games and, quite frankly, if a change were to happen, last week made the most sense because of the number of off-days it would have allowed for a new coach to work his new team.
But they are now 0-2-2 since Guerin ripped the players a new one during a meeting two Mondays ago. Nothing is working, and there just comes a point where the losses are too much to handle.
It’s obvious Guerin doesn’t want to fire Evason. Firing Evason is the last chip Guerin has to play before the focus and attention shift squarely to him regarding where his team is in the standings.
A strong case really could be made to let this season play out with Evason and then make the change next summer, when the Wild — at the very worst — could have a rare lottery pick. That seems to be the prudent course, because what is a coaching change now really going to achieve other than worsening the team’s draft position?
This team is not a Cup contender, so wouldn’t going for a top pick like Macklin Celebrini or Cole Eiserman make the most sense?
Guerin gave Evason a public vote of confidence last Sunday, saying he can’t do the playing for the players. And Guerin has a point. This team got back-to-back 100-point seasons with a lot of this very roster. As much as it’s easier to change a coach than it is a roster — especially with the no-move clauses handed out — you wonder how much of a bump it would actually give.
But here’s the wild card: Is making the playoffs still the edict?
If so, Evason — whether this is his fault or not, is in deep, deep ... deep trouble, because this team has shown little ability this season to get a single victory, let alone string several together.
It’s embarrassing losing this much, particularly on home ice. It has been tough to watch for 19 games. Imagine having to endure another 63.
In 2016 when Mike Yeo was fired as Wild coach, Chuck Fletcher gave him a public vote of confidence on a Saturday in St. Louis. One week later, after a home loss to Boston, Yeo was fired. The story goes that owner Craig Leipold subtly told Fletcher that it was time, and Fletcher pulled the trigger. These losses, particularly the terrible ones at home, can’t be sitting well with the man who writes the large checks.
So while Guerin and Leipold have tried to stay patient, that may have run its course.
Guerin seems like a very hands-on GM. Has he applied any pressure on Evason to try anything different? I don’t mean just NOW, but his entire tenure. It just seems odd that Dean rarely touches lines, etc., without BG getting involved. OR do they just have the same mindset? — certainly is a lot of collaboration between Evason and management. Evason has said as much. He talks to Guerin regarding not only roster and lineup decisions but also strategy. And it’s smart to tap into a man who has won four Cups as a player and exec. While Evason wasn’t the coach Guerin hired — he was inherited as an assistant, although Guerin grew immense respect for him and decided to make him the head honcho — they do have a similar mindset in terms of how they want their team to play. And that, quite frankly, is partly why Evason has remained the coach and has been extended under Guerin’s watch (one year after this one at a little less than $2 million).
Evason also doesn’t need Guerin to put any pressure on him to realize he has to make changes. It’s been pretty clear this season that Evason knows he’s coaching for his job, from how much he’s criticized players publicly to how much he’s tried to tweak at practice. And he has tweaked the lines a lot this season, so saying he rarely touches the lines isn’t accurate. He’s tried to be as positive as he can be, telling the team as much before Saturday’s practice, because adding to the negativity won’t help the Wild get out of this. But as you saw after Sunday’s loss in Detroit, he’s wearing these losses and not sugarcoating them.
I don’t remember any quotes of players complimenting this coaching staff. Of course there haven’t been any negative quotes either, or that would stand out. In your opinion, does the room like this coaching staff, dislike them, or are players indifferent? I have to imagine that they enjoy the lack of practice, especially the established players with families. — Ron N.
Players seem to respect Evason, both as a man and as a coach. Pat Maroon said after a loss in Philadelphia this had nothing to do with coaching. You can tell they haven’t given up on him, in terms of the effort they put out there. They’re not quitting. They’re also not playing well or executing, though, and frustration is funneling onto the ice. Just look at their remarkable lack of discipline.
So there’s some sort of disconnect between what’s being coached and what happens on the ice. You wonder how Evason being so publicly critical has impacted guys like Kaprizov and Boldy. The fact that Evason brought in his three captains a few weeks ago for individual meetings to challenge them spoke volumes about both his comfort level with them — and the desperate nature of the situation.
Who do you see going first, Evason or the assistants? — Reid. S
It doesn’t happen often in the NHL, but firing an assistant without the head coach going too isn’t out of the question. Fair or not, the focus may turn toward Bob Woods, who is in charge of the league-worst penalty kill (23 goals against, with Jonas Brodin on the ice for 15 and Joel Eriksson Ek 11). If Evason goes, of course, all bets are off for Woods. Our sense is while firing Woods alone was very much an option awhile ago, Evason is very much in trouble now.
In the likely event that Dean gets fired this year, who are some candidates to look out for? I wish Bill would have fired Dean last year and gotten Rick Tocchet. — Tom J.
Firing Evason last year in the middle of a second straight 100-point season wasn’t going to happen. Now it does feel like his job status is day-to-day.
As for candidates, former New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators coach John Hynes is the most logical. The Wild considered him for their vacant assistant coaching job last summer, but he wanted to wait for a head-coaching position. Guerin didn’t hire him but was his longtime GM and/or Pittsburgh Penguins player development guy in Wilkes-Barre. And Guerin’s senior adviser, Ray Shero, hired Hynes to be New Jersey’s coach.
Hynes, fired by the Predators in May, is in the final year of his contract with Nashville at a little less than $2 million, per a league source.
Gerard Gallant is one of the more high-profile names available, but is he the right fit for this roster? We doubt they’re eyeballing him, especially because he’d cost a fortune. Jay Woodcroft just got let go by the Edmonton Oilers , and he at least won a few playoff series. But that, too, would seem doubtful. Dallas Eakins is out there and could even be willing to align himself as an assistant with Hynes.
Outside of his “make the playoffs each year” mandate, how involved is Leipold in daily operations? Do you get the impression he gave any sort of nudge for Guerin to make the moves he did this summer/fall, or is he very hands-off of things for the most part? — Michael D.
That would be very unlike Leipold. He’s involved, but he stays out of that stuff. Now, where Leipold is involved is resisting a full rebuild or it would have happened years ago. He wants to make the playoffs every year, and that’s what “nudges” Guerin to always be in a win-now mode. Maybe that’s why Guerin extended the contracts of Mats Zuccarello , Foligno and Hartman rather than picking one or two.
The win-now mantra has been Leipold’s philosophy since buying the team in 2008. Remember that when he fired Fletcher in 2018, he made it clear the roster needed only tweaks. The Wild have had plenty of chances over the years to do a roster reset, but every time they trade a Nino Niederreiter , Mikael Granlund , Charlie Coyle , Jason Zucker or discard a Zach Parise, Ryan Suter , Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal or Devan Dubnyk , they basically replace them (immediately or not long after) with players they perceive as win-now assets.
Why did BG dismantle a country-club locker room, full of guys who have been here a while and felt fairly comfortable with their effort night in and night out, just to reassemble a locker room of fairly comfortable old guys that give the same effort night in and night out? — Stephen B.
It’s a fair question. The decision to have so many vets who haven’t won in the playoffs on long-term deals is contradictory to Guerin’s opinion of not wanting players who felt comfortable just staying in Minnesota. The only difference is they’re his guys ... despite the fact that ironically he didn’t acquire any of the players given recent extensions beyond Johansson at last season’s end. Over the summer, Guerin indicated he’d wait to extend the three big pending free agents like there was no rush and he wanted to see how the season played out. Then he extended all three with full no-moves at the beginning of the contracts (Zuccarello’s entire one).
You could make a case at the time for the extensions, but doing them together prevented any roster reset or flexibility. While there’s still time for the Wild to turn it around, the math isn’t looking good, nor is the fact that the extended players are only getting older. The rush doesn’t make a lot of sense, other than perhaps with Zuccarello. Foligno and Hartman were coming off disappointing seasons, and it’s not like they took discounts, even if Hartman did take one on his last deal and was being made whole.
What’s your preference? Finishing in the bottom 10 to acquire draft capital for the next two years or doing everything possible to make a playoff run (which may include dealing prospects/capital)? — Blake K.
It’s ironic we’re talking like this a year after the Connor Bedard sweepstakes (the Wild are always a year late), but going for Celebrini or Eiserman would be worth it. Trading prospects and picks this season wouldn’t make sense, especially since there’s almost no way to accrue enough cap space to go for a run at the deadline.
Macklin Celebrini, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, learned what it takes to be an elite athlete growing up around NBA superstars, thanks to his father Rick. on how watching Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson in recovery prepared Celebrini for the pros.— The Athletic November 2, 2023
The preseason contract extensions have handcuffed us, but could you give us a few trade scenarios we could do if we’re still outside the playoffs come mid-February? — Mark Benshoof
This roster is locked beyond perhaps trading pending unrestricted free agents Maroon (the Oilers are interested, per a league source) and Duhaime, pending restricted free agent Dewar and maybe someone like Jake Middleton , who has one year left on his contract after this one and has had a tough go this season. Zuccarello, Foligno and/or Hartman likely would have lassoed more.
Do you think Marc-Andre Fleury will request to be moved, and if so what value do you think we could get? Does that lead to Jesper Wallstedt getting games? — AJ Spears
Fleury didn’t want to waive his no-move this offseason because he didn’t want to move his family, so would he really do so late in the season? And, legitimately, what playoff contender is going to look at Fleury unless he significantly improves? Maybe he could fill a role as a backup similar to Vegas acquiring Jonathan Quick last season, but is Fleury moving elsewhere to be a backup?
(Top photo of Dean Evason: Michael Reaves / )
