Dean Evason was named the 20th head coach in Admirals history on June 19th. He has spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, helping them claim four straight Southeast Division titles, reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past five seasons (2008-12) and win the 2010 President’s Trophy.

In his time as an assistant in Washington from 2005-12, the Capitals compiled a 294-206-74 record (.577). Evason’s responsibilities included face-offs (helping the Caps finish among the NHL’s Top 10 five times in his seven seasons), the penalty kill (which finished as high as second in the League under his watch (2010-11) while also being in charge of the team’s forwards.

Evason coached many American Hockey League alums during his tenure with the Caps including former Admirals Tyler Sloan, Kyle Wilson, Nolan Yonkman, Petr Sykora, Kris Beech, Timo Helbling, Matt Hendricks and Tomas Vokoun.

“Dean Evason brings the knowledge, insight and expertise of 20 years of NHL playing and coaching experience to the organization, and we are excited to have him guiding our young players and prospects as our development coach,” Poile said. “Given his success working with a diverse group of players and coaches, and his ability to alter his style to their strengths, we feel our young players and prospects are in great hands.”

Prior to joining the Capitals, the Flin Flon, Man., native spent six seasons as a head coach in the Western Hockey League. He began his coaching career with the Kamloops Blazers – where his roster included Predators 2002 first-round pick Scottie Upshall – compiling a 109-83-17 record in three seasons from 1999-2002. Evason moved on to guide the Vancouver Giants to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2002-03 and 2003-04, before co-coaching the Calgary Hitmen to a 34-23-9-6 record in 2004-05 on a team that included NHL stars Andrew Ladd and Ryan Getzlaf.

Washington’s third selection, 89th overall (third round), in the 1982 Entry Draft, Evason amassed 372 points (139g-233a) and 1,002 penalty minutes in 803 NHL games with the Capitals, Hartford Whalers, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames from 1983-96. This included a pair of seasons playing under then-Washington General Manager David Poile (1983-85) and three seasons as a teammate of Predators Assistant General Manager Paul Fenton in both the Hartford (1984-86) and San Jose (1991-92) organizations. An honored member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, he served as a player/coach for Team Canada during the 1996-97 season, captaining the team to a gold medal at the 1997 World Championship. He wound down his career as a player/coach with Landshut of the German League in 1997-98 and 1998-99.