Wild President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin felt “something had to change” as the team spiraled into a seven-game losing streak.
“You can’t trade 23 players,” Guerin said.
So, the Wild instead changed the look behind the bench, ushering in former Nashville and New Jersey coach John Hynes after firing head coach Dean Evason on Monday.
“The coaches can’t go out and execute for the player and play,” Guerin said after the Wild introduced Hynes at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday morning ahead of hosting the Blues this evening. “But it just didn’t feel like it was going to come back. What I was seeing I think it had just gotten to that point where almost no matter what they did, the guys were having a hard time executing and generating and generating offense.”
Said Hynes: “You’re not going to come in pregame skate and change a bunch of things. That’s for a practice day. But to me, the most important thing is meeting them, getting their minds right, have an opportunity to talk to them, let them stay in their routines and make sure that we’re ready with the right mindsight at play time.”
Wild assistant coaches ran practice at Xcel Energy Center. With forward Ryan Hartman suspended for two games, Vinni Lettieri was recalled from Iowa of the AHL.
With Evason’s top assistant, Bob Woods, also fired, the team promoted Patrick Dwyer from their American Hockey League affiliate to be an assistant on Hynes’ staff. The 40-year-old Dwyer, who played 416 NHL games with Carolina, was Brett McLean’s top assistant with the Iowa Wild.
Evason, who was in the final season of a three-year contract, leaves after going 147-77-27 through parts of five seasons. The Wild were at their best under his direction in 2021-22 when they set franchise records in wins (53), points (113) and goals (305), and Evason finished fourth in voting for the league’s best coach after being a Jack Adams Award finalist the previous season.
Hynes, 48, was behind the bench for Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League affiliate while Guerin was a player development coach and assistant general manager for the Penguins. The Warwick, R.I., native went on to coach the Devils for parts of five seasons and then joined the Predators in 2020, going 134-96-18 before he was let go after last season.