During the game against Detroit, broadcast directors often tried to catch Dean Evason in the frame. The Minnesota coach’s face expressed a strange range of feelings: it was at the same time a mixture of disappointment, hopelessness and indifference. Evason’s guys slammed their heads into the wall, overwhelming the opponent with a series of monotonous shots, and Minnesota couldn’t come up with anything better than this. In the end it wasn’t even possible to get the goalkeeper out to grab something.
This is what happened to Minnesota at the beginning of the season:
Kaprizov is depressed, the ceiling is tight: Minnesota is terrible at the start of the NHL season
Although insiders wrote that Evason, who publicly criticized his top stars, had a vote of confidence from managers, it was difficult to imagine a situation in which the Minnesota boss would remain in his chair. All trade opportunities for the “Wilds” are as limited as possible due to the difficult situation with the ceiling – it will not be possible to repeat the trick of 2015, when the trade of Devan Dubnyk gave new life to the team and delayed the resignation of Mike Yeo. Evason had already been on the job for quite some time, in four seasons he had never made it past the first round and he also had no safety net in the form of past successes. There was only one old, reliable way to change things: change coaches.
Dean Evason
Photo: CLAUDIO BRESCIANI/EPA/TASS
However, the man who instantly arrived in Minnesota turned heads almost throughout the hockey world. If the Wild wanted to finally put an end to his development and release Kirill Kaprizov from the team at the end of his contract, they couldn’t find a better candidate for this hard job than John Hynes. It is clear that the last few games with Evason seemed absolutely unprincipled, to paraphrase the meme: “Beat the opponent, improve the throws, run, finish.” The problem is that Hines is a man who is not far from this in his tactical style.
Who is John Hynes? The former Pittsburgh farm club coach took over New Jersey’s leadership in the summer of 2015 after former Penguins general manager Ray Shero arrived there. It is logical that the new coach decided to choose a coach who was well known to him; Soon several people who had previously played in the club system appeared on the “devils” list. Considering that after the departure of all the veterans that Lamoriello brought to the team, the Devils’ roster looked more like ashes, Hines found it difficult to spoil the situation: in the first season, the team somehow clung to the shoulders of Cory Schneider. .
Yes, in 2018, New Jersey sensationally made the playoffs, playing high-speed hockey and scoring largely thanks to a Hall – Hischier – Palmieri line. However, after this success, the team’s development slowed down a lot, although the management did a good job strengthening the team. Under Hines, New Jersey had two No. 1 overall picks, and firing the coach in December 2019 seemed like the logical thing to do, and everyone was surprised when he found a job in Nashville a month after being fired by the Devils.
When talking about Hines in Nashville, keep in mind that just two years earlier, the Predators were the best regular-season team with the deepest roster in the league. The new coach already arrived at the end of the championship window, but with him the team became the most boring middle peasant, which in the first season managed to lose in the play-in against Arizona (enough is enough, right?) . The club had an interesting regular season in 2021/2022, when the seemingly extinct Duchane and Johansen were revived, but Colorado fell into the playoffs without a chance, 0-4. When Hines was fired, it was openly stated that the club wanted to play more offensive hockey.
“Minnesota needs to develop numerous young people in the near future; The same Marco Rossi and Brock Faber have already become first-team players, and the team is probably waiting for Danila Yurov, whose contract expires in April. Only Hines works terribly with young people; Remember how monstrous Jack Hughes looked in his first few months in the NHL, and it’s unlikely that the problem was just a lack of physics. In Nashville, which has always developed the best defenders in the league, under Hines no defensive player has reached a new level and the old ones have stagnated. Young players didn’t stand a chance last season, their spots were taken by mystery meat from the AHL, and only after the sale deadline did Tomasino, Novak, Glass and company rush so much that they almost jumped into the playoffs.
John Hynes leading the US team at the 2016 World Cup
Photo: RIA Novosti
So why does a person like that get a job in the NHL? It’s easy to understand if you look at the elite prospect for a minute: Hines in Pittsburgh crossed paths not only with Shero, but also with current Minnesota coach Bill Guerin, who served as a development coach. In principle, Hines also got a job in Nashville thanks to old ties with the now former general director: Hines and David Poile coincided while working in the structures of the national hockey federation. This is a question for the entire NHL: if you get the main job once, you will not lose it, unlike the Europeans who have achieved everything, for whom even knowing English will not help them.
Minnesota fans’ reaction to Hines’ appointment was captured in a humorous but liked tweet: “This appointment just caused me to break my TV in front of 30 guests. My wife took the crying kids and left the house.” “, saying that I would spend the week in a hotel. This team has ruined my life and I can’t take it anymore.” However, the fans are not only unhappy with the new coach, but also with the old coach, who decided to bring in an old friend.
The claims against Guerin appeared not only after the monstrous purchase of Suter and Parise, which ended all the team’s prospects for the coming years; after all, he wasn’t the one who signed these contracts. Minnesota has gone crazy in recent years for players who provide toughness over skill. This tactic helped get the most out of the team, but Guerin decided to rely on the struggling veterans rather than rejuvenate the team, and fans were horrified by the coach’s actions.
Marcus Foligno and Kirill Kaprizov
Photo: Jim Mone/AP/TASS
With the generous hand of a sower, Guerin completely banned the trade of several middle-aged players at once: Matsu Zuccarello (36 years old), enforcer Marcus Foligno (32 years old, four-year contract for 4 million dollars). , which had never exceeded 50 points. An outright trade ban was imposed on Ryan Hartman, who, other than Kaprizov, does not provide stellar productivity. At the same time, the problem with the centers has not yet been resolved; If it were not for Russia’s progress, the situation would have been catastrophic.
Guerin’s decisions seemed strange even before the start of the season:
Kaprizov will go to another club for the cup. Minnesota’s ambitions are over
Judging by the management decisions, it is easy to guess what awaits Minnesota now: mediocrity, which has already been a faithful companion of this team for many years. Once upon a time, the hockey gods sent a moment of enlightenment to the “Wilds” scouting director, who allowed him to discern Kaprizov’s talent in the fifth round of the draft. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to build a brilliant team around the most brilliant forward in Minnesota history; It looks like it won’t work.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS