Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason directs his team in the second period during an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. (Andy Clayton-King/AP)

Wild sign head coach Dean Evason, entire staff to multi-year extensions

The Minnesota Wild have signed its entire coaching staff, including head coach Dean Evason, to multi-year contract extensions.

Others receiving extensions include: Assistant coaches Darby Hendrickson, Brett McLean and Bob Woods, goaltending coach Frederic Chabot and video coaches T.J. Jindra and Jonas Plumb. Terms of the deals were not announced, but Sarah McLellan of The Star Tribune reports each coach signed three-year contracts.

Evason, 57, was hired to replace Bruce Boudreau on Feb. 14, 2020 as the interim head coach and given the full-time job in July of that year. Over parts of three seasons as head coach, Evason has a 62-29-7 record including a 19-9-2 record this season that has the Wild one point out of first place in the Central Division. Since Evason took over for Boudreau, the Wild are fourth in the NHL with 332 goals scored, are tied for fourth in wins and tied for sixth in points percentage.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, Evason led the Wild to a 35-16-5 record -- the highest winning percentage through 56 games in franchise history -- and was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. His contract was set to expire after this season.

"It was very important to me personally, and obviously important to the organization to have us all done at the same time," Evason said of the fact his entire staff signed extension. "We talk all the time about our team on the ice being team-first mentality, and it's no different in the coaches room. We're team-first and it's a group effort. It's not one guy, it's not individuals running different situations or departments, it's all of us as a whole. We're all taking credit when things are good and we're all gonna take (accountability) when things go the other way."

The announcement comes just days before the Wild host the St. Louis Blues in the Winter Classic Saturday at Target Field, which is on track to be one of the coldest outdoor games in NHL history.