The Minnesota Wild made a significant change in attempts to turn around their disappointing start of the 2023-24 NHL season. The team fired head coach Dean Evason and replaced him with former Nashville Predators coach John Hynes.
The Wild are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and have a 5-10-4 record. General manager Bill Guerin viewed this unacceptable for a team that made the playoffs in all of the past four seasons and decided it was time to let Evason go. Assistant coach Bob Woods was also relieved of his duties.
Evason joined the Wild as an assistant in 2018. He took over as interim head coach during the 2019–20 season before being given the job on a full-time basis. His head coaching record with the Wild is 147-77-27 in the regular season and 8-15 in the playoffs.
“Dean did an excellent job during his tenure with the Minnesota Wild, especially as head coach of our team,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said. “I am very thankful for his hard work and dedication to our organization.”
The Wild hopes that Hynes can provide a positive shock for the underperforming team and get them back in the playoff hunt. The 48-year-old coach was without a job after being fired by the Predators at the end of the last season. He has a coaching record of 284-255-63 with the Predators and the New Jersey Devils.
