‘A different direction’: Swift Current Broncos name Dean DeSilva new head coach as team begins rebuild

Swift Current Broncos General Manager Chad Leslie (left) announces Dean DeSilva as team's new head coach on July 2, 2025. (DonovanMaess/CTVNews)

The Swift Current Broncos have named Dean DeSilva the team’s next head coach, making the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s a lot that I like about Dean,” Broncos General Manager Chad Leslie told reporters. “He’s a guy that’s going to be focused on relationships, development and structure. And I think that’s important for the direction our team is going.”

“I’m very excited,” DeSilva said. “It’s a great, fantastic opportunity to be the head coach in the WHL.”

DeSilva’s hiring comes after the Broncos announced in May that they were parting ways with former head coach Taras McEwen after parts of two seasons.

Under McEwen, the Broncos went 35-30-1-2 in the 2024-25 WHL regular season, grabbing the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference before falling to the eventual league champion Medicine Hat Tigers in five games in the first round.

Leslie says the organization is now headed towards a rebuild and needed a different voice behind the bench to lead the development of young players.

“Taras is going to be a career coach. He had good results here and we’re grateful for the work he put in here,” the general manager said. “It was just an opportunity for a different direction and that’s the way that we’re going to go.”

DeSilva joins the Broncos with nearly two decades of various coaching experience, including as a director of development in Kitchener, Ont. He’s also spent time with Hockey Canada at the Youth Games, 3 Nations Cup, U16 and U17 levels.

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He’s never been a head coach in the CHL but has spent the past five seasons as an assistant, four with the Everett Silvertips, including a 2024-25 campaign that saw the Silvertips post a league best 48-12-4-4 record before losing to the Portland Winterhawks in seven games in round two of the playoffs.

DeSilva says he’s ready for the added pressure of being a head coach.

“I’ve been a head coach at the junior level before,” he said. “And being around the team in Everett for the last four years and my role expanding there and the relationships that I’ve built there, I’m ready for that.”

He also believes his extensive resume will benefit the Broncos rebuild.

“Development is going to be huge,” DeSilva said. “The landscape is changing. We’re going to have a very, very good core. They’re still young but they’re year [more] experienced. That’s going to make a big difference.”

“The head coaches he’s worked under talked like it was having another head coach with you,” Leslie said about DeSilva’s references. “You’re not having to ask or demand things from him, it’s finished already.”

DeSilva says he will take a few weeks off to enjoy the summer with his family in Ontario.

Swift Current’s rookie camp is scheduled for the end of August and training camp shortly after, prior to the pre-season beginning in early September.