Dean Evason became the first NHL coach to lose his job this season with the Columbus Blue Jackets announcing Monday that they are replacing him with Rick Bowness.
Removing Evason after he was in charge for 127 games and hiring Bowness comes after the Blue Jackets snapped a four-game losing streak Sunday with a 3-2 win over the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Columbus, which also announced it had fired assistant coach Steve McCarthy, allowed 4.75 goals per game during its losing streak. The only game that didn’t see the Blue Jackets allow five goals during that time was their 4-0 loss last Saturday to the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver.
Entering Monday, the Blue Jackets (19-19-7) were tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference and were also tied for the seventh-fewest points in the NHL.
“This season has been a frustrating one for all of us and the bottom line is we are not performing at a level that meets our expectations,” Blue Jackets president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “We all share in that responsibility, me included, and while this was not a decision that was made lightly it is one that needed to be made at this time.”
Evason’s lone full season with the Blue Jackets in 2024-25 saw him guide a club that endured a difficult offseason with the death of star forward Johnny Gaudreau. The team had a 23-point improvement from the previous season and the 89 points they accrued was the most since the 2018-19 season.
“Dean did a tremendous job last year under extremely difficult circumstances,” Waddell said. “And I thank him for that.”
Those Blue Jackets were in it until the end, but ultimately finished two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
That fight to the finish, though, created the belief that the Blue Jackets could once again challenge for a postseason berth this season, with the intent of qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
They opened November with a four-game losing streak only to then lose another four straight in late November. They lost five straight between Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 before having their fourth bank of more than four straight losses that was snapped Sunday.
Saddled with such inconsistency has made it even more challenging for the Blue Jackets to fight for a playoff spot in what has become a rather competitive Eastern Conference landscape. The Blue Jackets are seven points behind the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They are also seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the third and final Metropolitan Division playoff place.
Hiring Bowness out of retirement comes with the intent that he provide the Blue Jackets with the same formula that allowed him to reach the playoffs in his two most recent stops with the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets.
Bowness took over the Stars during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and guided them to the Stanley Cup final where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2022, he took the Stars to the first round where they were eliminated by the Calgary Flames.
He stepped away from the Stars and was hired by the Jets. Bowness led the Jets to the playoffs in his two seasons in charge with his second year in charge seeing the Jets finish with 110 points before announcing that he was retiring in May 2024.
Bowness will now be tasked with trying to find solutions for a team that has faced a disconnect in a few areas. Natural Stat Trick’s metrics show that the Blue Jackets are in the top 10 in shots per 60, scoring chances per 60 and high-danger chances per 60 yet rank 22nd in goals per game this season. They’ve faced similar challenges with their defensive setup as they are in the bottom 10 in terms of allowing the fewest shots per 60 and scoring chances per 60 en route to surrendering the fifth-most goals per game at 3.38.
Firing Evason in January also represents how the NHL coaching carousel has been more stable compared to last season.
The Boston Bruins were the first team in 2024-25 to fire their coach when they dismissed Jim Montgomery in late November, only for Montgomery to be hired later that month by the St. Louis Blues. The 2024-25 season along with the offseason saw 11 different teams hire new coaches.
