The Minnesota Wild will be making a coaching change. The team has fired Bruce Boudreau replacing him with assistant coach Dean Evason.
BREAKING: #mnwild coach Bruce Boudreau was fired this morning at TRIA by GM Bill Guerin
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 14, 2020
Bruce Boudreau Fired By The Wild
While this news may be surprising to some around the league, those close to the team could see this coming. Over their last 10 games, Wild are 6-3-1 and three points out of a wild-card spot. However, the team has not been very inconsistent this season. Under Boudreau, this season Minnesota has a record of 27-23-7. Boudreau becomes the eight coaching causality of the season. He joins the likes of Gerard Gallant, Mike Babcock, and Peter Laviolette as potential UFA coaches this off-season.
After a slow start to the season in October, the Wild had a record of 23-14-17 since November 1st. However, general manager Bill Guerin had seen enough after another blown lead in the third period to the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Guerin wants his team competing for a playoff spot.
Boudreau has been the head coach of the Wild for the past four seasons after he was hired prior to the 2016-17 season. His overall record with the Wild was 158-110-35. And while the Wild made the playoffs under Boudreau in his first two seasons as head coach, they could not get out of the first round.
This is not the first time Boudreau has been fired either. He was hired by the Anaheim Ducks two days after he was fired by the Washington Capitals in 2011, and the Wild hired him 7 days after he was fired by the Ducks in 2016. With that kind of track record, it is just a matter of time before he lands another coaching position.
Going Forward
In the meantime, the Wild have named assistant head Dean Evason as the interim head coach. A career assistant coach with the Capitals and Wild, this will be his first crack to be a head coach on the NHL. Evason has experience as a head coach in the AHL. Beginning in 2012 with the Milwaukee Admirals, Evason spent seasons as the head coach, becoming the team second-winningest coach in team history. The Wild are hoping a change at the coaching position will be what is necessary to get them into the playoffs.
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