Wilderness Walk: Dean Evason Talks After Firing

Good article in the Athletic. Not sure I've read an interview like that within days of a coach being fired. I expect Evason will be coaching again in the NHL.

A guy who was regularly above a .625 points percentage almost certainly will get a chance somewhere else in the near future.

Boldy and Spurgeon out of the lineup for a team that has $14.5M in cap hits is like being down 4 stars compared to most of the league. They were likely to come around with Evason, but definitely played one of their best games following the change. I wish him well.

Hopefully the new coach can get results and, if they make the playoffs, have better luck with the health of the roster for the playoffs.

45 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Boldy and Spurgeon out of the lineup for a team that has $14.5M in cap hits is like being down 4 stars

Agreed.  This is why I’m surprised Deano didn’t get a little more runway from BG so early into this season.   Explanation might be: PK still hasn’t been fixed, 1st round exits, team appears to have tuned out coaching staff and that was enough for BG to see even after two 100 pt seasons.  Again, appears reactionary by Guerin.  Lots of third world dictators have thin skin.  Don’t move your family just yet Hynes

 #hottakehynzy

It was a sad end.  Evason did about as well as one could want out of a coach, given the circumstances.  However, if players aren't playing well, something has to change.  Teams would be foolish not to give this guy another chance though.  Evason's death stare will probably be staring back at the Wild someday.

Time will tell if letting go of Evason so soon was the right call. BG didn't have the patience to wait it out any longer and had to make the only change available to him. Hynes has been on call for a couple weeks I'm sure. I would like to know if Evason had a full run of the team or if BG was making some of the player calls. Particularly in the playoffs going with Fluery the entire time only to throw Talbot in to save the team when it was too late. Beginning of the end for Talbot right there. 

BG does not give me the impression he's a hands off GM when it comes to the players and the line up. I think he's a bit of a control freak. If it's so BG was involved with roster lineup and starting goalies Evason will never say but then I would guess Evason is happy to be out of here. 

Evason's comments about Kaprizov should be concerning. Apparently a lingering injury that is hard to recover from. If that's the case he shouldn't be on the ice. Instead he's playing long hard minutes. 

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Evason's death stare will probably be staring back at the Wild someday.

Yes, this is likely.  I hope he continues to piss and moan to the ref's all game so we can get the benefit of the refs goodwill

2 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Evason's comments about Kaprizov should be concerning.

Please tell us more.  Is this from the Athletic interview with Russo?

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

Evason is happy to be out of here.

Guerin didn't need to give Evason the last 3 seasons in the first place to help him build a strong resume. Evason will miss the opportunity and relationships he had in Minnesota, but it's possible he will find a situation that is ready to turn around quickly and be competitive. It may end up being better for him in the long term, but he's certainly not happy at the moment.

Overall, Guerin has made a number of solid decisions given the cap constraints, but I really wanted him to find a way to bring back Nyquist rather than Johansson. He put himself into a tricky situation by overpaying for Goligoski and not having the contract end before the worst of the cap hits.

The extensions Guerin handed out this year did not seem, individually, like truly awful contracts for the talents of the players involved, but collectively closes the door on some other options for a couple more years, at least until the no movement restrictions open up. The way this season started didn't really feel acceptable, but definitely didn't feel like it was all Evason.

33 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Please tell us more.  Is this from the Athletic interview with Russo?

Yes

"...He's had it looked at again this year. I don't want to give any secrets out, but that's a hard injury to recover from. Has that affected his ability to have the pace? Yes, 100%. I do believe that. Kirill is trying his ass off. He just hasn't found his skating pace that we are accustomed to"

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Please tell us more.  Is this from the Athletic interview with Russo?

It was a exit interview Russo did with Evason. Russo question in bold. 

Is Kirill Kaprizov hurt? What’s gone on with him?

“I think his injury took a lot out of him. He comes back and plays two games and then the playoffs, and he’s still in recovery mode. He’s had it looked at again this year. I don’t want to give secrets out, but that’s a hard injury to recover from. Has that affected his ability to have the pace? Yes, 100 percent. I do believe that. Kirill Kaprizov is trying his ass off. He just hasn’t found his skating pace that we are accustomed to.”

5 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Evason's comments about Kaprizov should be concerning. Apparently a lingering injury that is hard to recover from. If that's the case he shouldn't be on the ice. Instead he's playing long hard minutes. 

For those of us hiding behind the Athletic pay wall, could you expand on this?

Ok, it's not the right spelling, but nicknames for Hynes could be something like 

Ketchup, 57, some other form of sauce?

I don't know about you guys, but from my eye test it looks like the Wild are playing far more structured and loose under Hynes. Is it just that the pressure was taken off? To me, it looks like we are outchancing teams again, and we aren't giving up that much in our own zone. Sure, Goose2 has had to make some saves in tight, but he's been in position to do that. 

What can we make of the last 2 games? Well, St. Louis was full of new coach adrenaline. It's not uncommon to win a new coach's debut. Nashville could very well be described as a revenge game for Hynes, a game he wanted very badly, especially in blowout fashion. I'm pretty sure that Dewar collected a fair amount of cash off the bulletin board after the game.

Ryan Carter mentioned that during a coaching change, all the equity built up under the previous coach for the bottom 6 guys is gone, and that is a motivator to play harder. With Hynes, he seems to like lines with identity. Instead of elevating Dewar to 3rd line, it seems like he realized that line was going and elevated the whole line to extra minutes. This doesn't interrupt chemistry within the team. 

What I have been very pleased with, so far, are the eye test possession numbers. To me, it seems like we're spending an awful lot more time in the offensive zone, and increasingly when it is cleared we're only having to go 175 ft. instead of the whole 200. Nashville was a team that had won 6 in a row. They were on a hot streak. 

This also shows that some of the Central Division teams look like pretenders. Perhaps our Eastern Conference heavy schedule, while producing many losses, has made our guys better? Maybe this pays dividends down the road? Maybe we can really start moving up the standings with a Western Conference schedule.

1 more thing about hiring of Hynes: Since he was Nashville's coach last season, he is well acquainted with the Central Division. Perhaps that was something Guerin desired since you have to get out of the division if you're making a run? 

For those who look at Hynes' playoff record, like Evason, his teams have been undermanned in postseason play. They were also overachievers to get there. I don't know about his Xs & Os, I would probably say it is better than Evason's. Evason seemed to have a leader of men style, and didn't concern himself too much with strategy and such. Maybe, this is the main difference and if it is, this club should be strategically better.

It would be nice if the above could be researched by some better "in the know" people who could tell the difference between the coaches. Perhaps even asking Guerin about it could give more insight on that aspect? Maybe Russo/Smith have already covered this?

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

 

For those who look at Hynes' playoff record, like Evason, his teams have been undermanned in postseason play. They were also overachievers to get there.

And this wasn't true with Evason? You're reaching Mnfan

An interview with Deano for those that haven't seen it.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't know about you guys, but from my eye test it looks like the Wild are playing far more structured and loose under Hynes.

Hynes hasn't even unpacked his dry erase board yet, so I'm not giving him any credit for what we've seen the last two games.  IMO the change is directly attributable to the players feeling:

1) responsible for getting Dean fired.  aka pride (aka shame)

2) it's a new tryout (even the apathetic old core with term).  This is a new beginning for Dewzy.

21 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Please tell us more.  Is this from the Athletic interview with Russo?

Basically Dean said, I don't wanna spill company secrets but Kap was/is still recovering from the injury last year and its a hard injury to recover from. That he got checked out again this year and just hasn't found his stride that we are all used to seeing (To summarize).  Its the NHL so no specifics ever but I think that lines up with the eye test, he looks like he can't shift into beast mode and take over the ozone like he had before, missing a gear to his skating. I doubt he would be playing if he could hurt it worse but may just take time and be uncomfortable until back up to speed. Alas, I am not doctor, I don't even play one on TV, but thats my assumption.

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hynes hasn't even unpacked his dry erase board yet, so I'm not giving him any credit for what we've seen the last two games.  IMO the change is directly attributable to the players feeling:

1) responsible for getting Dean fired.  aka pride (aka shame)

2) it's a new tryout (even the apathetic old core with term).  This is a new beginning for Dewzy.

This was also addressed in the article. Usually after a change to coaches players get a spark and play loose because the coach they have developed a close relationship with, who is rightfully pissed off, is no longer there which in a way takes pressure off, acts as a reset and sticks aren't being white knuckled.

4 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't know about you guys, but from my eye test it looks like the Wild are playing far more structured and loose under Hynes. Is it just that the pressure was taken off? To me, it looks like we are outchancing teams again, and we aren't giving up that much in our own zone. Sure, Goose2 has had to make some saves in tight, but he's been in position to do that. 

What can we make of the last 2 games? Well, St. Louis was full of new coach adrenaline. It's not uncommon to win a new coach's debut. Nashville could very well be described as a revenge game for Hynes, a game he wanted very badly, especially in blowout fashion. I'm pretty sure that Dewar collected a fair amount of cash off the bulletin board after the game.

Ryan Carter mentioned that during a coaching change, all the equity built up under the previous coach for the bottom 6 guys is gone, and that is a motivator to play harder. With Hynes, he seems to like lines with identity. Instead of elevating Dewar to 3rd line, it seems like he realized that line was going and elevated the whole line to extra minutes. This doesn't interrupt chemistry within the team. 

What I have been very pleased with, so far, are the eye test possession numbers. To me, it seems like we're spending an awful lot more time in the offensive zone, and increasingly when it is cleared we're only having to go 175 ft. instead of the whole 200. Nashville was a team that had won 6 in a row. They were on a hot streak. 

This also shows that some of the Central Division teams look like pretenders. Perhaps our Eastern Conference heavy schedule, while producing many losses, has made our guys better? Maybe this pays dividends down the road? Maybe we can really start moving up the standings with a Western Conference schedule.

1 more thing about hiring of Hynes: Since he was Nashville's coach last season, he is well acquainted with the Central Division. Perhaps that was something Guerin desired since you have to get out of the division if you're making a run? 

For those who look at Hynes' playoff record, like Evason, his teams have been undermanned in postseason play. They were also overachievers to get there. I don't know about his Xs & Os, I would probably say it is better than Evason's. Evason seemed to have a leader of men style, and didn't concern himself too much with strategy and such. Maybe, this is the main difference and if it is, this club should be strategically better.

It would be nice if the above could be researched by some better "in the know" people who could tell the difference between the coaches. Perhaps even asking Guerin about it could give more insight on that aspect? Maybe Russo/Smith have already covered this?

A couple things that Hynes has said since arriving. He has been studying the Wild for at least a couple weeks as BG has had some soft talks with him. He has seen what the players and team tendencies are and has at least minimally discussed them. He also stated that his preference is too speed up the game with passing out of the d-zone versus d-to-d. We have seen that in the last two games and they team is markedly faster.

On 12/1/2023 at 11:45 AM, Willy the poor boy said:

And this wasn't true with Evason? You're reaching Mnfan

It was not if you are including A playoffs too. Evason had some decent Milwaukee teams that should have won but didn't. I'll concede the argument in the N, though, the year we played the Blues we were supposed to win. And, the Wild were playing lesser competition, allegedly, than Hynes' teams, who were generally picking the highest seed in the Conference. 

What we don't know is if Hynes' teams were purely outmanned or if he was part of the problem. We do know that Evason severely was outcoached.