The Milwaukee Admirals will be looking for a new head coach for next season, after Paul Fenton convinced his old colleague to come north with him. Dean Evason, who has coached the Admirals for the past six years, has been hired as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Wild, replacing the outgoing John Anderson.
The departure of Evason from Milwaukee opens another AHL coaching job, joining Belleville, Colorado, Hershey and Tucson. These roles are sure to be filled by the next wave of head coaching prospects, just as Evason did in 2012 after serving as an assistant with the Washington Capitals. You can bet, after all the success that Milwaukee has had sending players to the Nashville Predators during his time there, that Evason is on a short list for future head coaching positions in the NHL. Getting back to the biggest league in the world is just the next step.
In Minnesota, Evason is re-joining his former GM in Paul Fenton, who ran the Admirals for many years under Preadtors GM David Poile. If anyone knows the kind of impact he can have on young players, it’s the GM who has watched him develop names like Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Austin Watson and Filip Forsberg in recent years.