Inability to develop younger players was Dean Evason’s downfall in Columbus

Mid-season coach firings almost always send a tremor of surprise through the NHL, and the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ dismissal of head coach Dean Evason on Monday was no different. After the dust settles, though, comes the post-mortem. What did the coach do wrong? What were his mistakes that led to his firing? In the case of Evason in Columbus, a quick look at the standings tells some of the story. With 45 points through 45 games, the Blue Jackets sit last in the Metropolitan Division and tied for last in the Eastern Conference. Last season, however, Evason’s first in Columbus, they finished with a respectable 89 points, just two points back of a playoff spot.

It’s also possible Columbus felt that Evason wasn’t realizing the vision they had for themselves. The Blue Jackets have a number of young, highly-drafted players in their lineup, but they haven’t developed as hoped. Forwards Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, and Cole Sillinger, all recent first-round picks, are having underwhelming seasons. Evason’s failure to get the most out of these prized young players could be why he’s out of a job right now.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Steve Peters from Inside the Coaches’ Room to discuss whether the struggles of Columbus’ younger players led to Evason’s firing.

Carter Hutton: I’m a big Dean Evason fan, but maybe that’s the old-school in me. Do you think at times he just didn’t develop these kids properly? We’ve seen it first hand, where sometimes older guys are a little harder and you kind of wear thin on some of the younger players, and not getting the development you need. From the GM’s standpoint, (Don) Waddell is sitting there and he’s not seeing the production out of a Kent Johnson, and not getting the best out of his players. Do you think that has something to do with it, Petey?

Steve Peters: Yeah, I do. I think when you look across the league at these young teams that are having success, and you talk about the star players that are having success, Connor Bedard and clearly (Macklin) Celebrini out in San Jose, those coaches are safe regardless of where they finish in the standings because of how well their young players are playing. The key here is Columbus is the 10th youngest team. They’re not where Chicago is in their roster rebuild, they’re not where San Jose is. They’ve got older players in their lineup, with bringing in Charlie Coyle and Mason Marchment, so they’ve got this mix. I don’t think they’re as young as people think they are.

Kirill Marchenko, great player, and they have some high-end talent. But you look at the numbers, Fantilli had 31 goals last year, he’s got 12. I know he’s on pace for just above 20, and yeah that makes a difference. So Waddell’s looking at this going, “Even if we’re not winning, if our young players are lights out and we’re talking about them every day, and Fantilli’s getting hat tricks and they’re putting up points, I think he can keep his job.” But now when those players aren’t excelling and you’re in last place, Waddell’s feeling the heat.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…