Blue Jackets’ Dean Evason to coach Canada at IIHF World Championship

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason will guide Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championship to be held May 9-25 in Denmark and Sweden, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Dreger adds that Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska will also be a part of Evason’s coaching staff, while the remainder of the group will be announced at a later date.

This season, in his first year behind the bench with the Blue Jackets, Evason guided the Ohio-based club to a 40-33-9 record and 89 points, falling just two points shy of the second wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference. In all, it marked the Blue Jackets’ best showing since the 2018-19 campaign.

Prior to joining the Blue Jackets, Evason manned the bench of the Minnesota Wild for part of five seasons, highlighted by four consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Evason previously served as an assistant with the Wild under Bruce Boudreau following a six-year stint as head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Evason was also an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals from 2005-12.

In all, through part of six seasons as a head coach, Evason owns a 187-110-36 career record.

In returning to the IIHF World Championship, it marks the second-straight year in which the 60-year-old native of Flin Flon, Man., will represent the Great White North. Last spring, Evason served as an assistant to Andre Tourigny of the Utah Hockey Club en route to an appearance in the bronze-medal game.

Canada returns to the IIHF World Championship in search of its first gold-medal victory since 2023 and 29th overall. Canada has also previously claimed 16 silver medals and nine bronze medals.

A former player, Evason captained Canada to a gold medal at the 1997 IIHF World Championship, putting up five points in 11 games en route to the victory.