Chuck Fletcher done as GM of Minnesota Wild.

[Uberdachen]

And Scandella.

And not Ennis.

 

[57special]

And Scandella.

Trying to forget...

 

[Moskau]

Who is Buffalo supposed to trade with now?

 

[TaLoN]

Who is Buffalo supposed to trade with now?

Don't worry, Fletcher will get hired again.

 

[Drewcifer]

Fletcher would be a great hire for a bad team. He made the Wild respectable again. For teams like Vancouver, Edmonton, Buffalo, or Montreal he would be an excellent GM. He did a good job in Minnesota but couldn't seem to take the team any further so it is probably time to try something new. Before Parise and Suter were signed there was an interview with Fletcher in one of the local papers where he said that his preference was to build a contender through the draft but Leopold wanted the team to be competitive sooner so they were going to go after some top players in free agency. In hindsight, I wonder if the Wild would have been better off passing on Parise and Suter and getting top draft picks for several years.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Leipold told the media that it wasn't a rebuild. In otherwords, they will continue to push for a playoff berth, get eliminated early, and have no decent picks.

 

[SomeDude]

Rookies do have to break in, but not with Toronto, Toronto is a place for established proven people, like Babcock and Lou, even if Kyle came in and the team was successful how much credit does Kyle get given that this is Lou's roster

Those established, proven people have led the Leafs to 0 Cups in the last 50+ years. I don't think they would care who would get credit for getting them over the top.

 

[AKL]

Leipold told the media that it wasn't a rebuild. In otherwords, they will continue to push for a playoff berth, get eliminated early, and have no decent picks.

You can do a re-tool to get over the hump. Many teams have proven that over the years.

 

[Bazeek]

You can do a re-tool to get over the hump. Many teams have proven that over the years.

And the draft lottery being what it is, aiming for high picks is a hell of a dangerous game.

 

[TexanGuy]

Eh, he' s been in training for 3 years. He has more experience than most rookies. If he's not GM then he leaves and becomes a GM elsewhere.

Rookie GMs scare me. Look what rookie GM John F Jr. did to the leafs before he was fired.

 

[Vachon23]

Rookie GMs scare me. Look what rookie GM John F Jr. did to the leafs before he was fired.

but look at Cheveldeyoff and Yzerman ..

the fact that he is the GM of the Marlies put more credibility on his work because we know he can manage a pro team

 

[W75]

I expect everyone to be wearing hair shirts, while scourging themselves and listening to Justin Bieber.

Oh, wait, Brodin already listens to Justin Bieber.

No, just no. Say that this isn't true.

 

[Gnashville]

Is there any Job Paul Fenton isn’t in the running for?

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Really, the ED probably sunk Fletcher more than anything else. Imagine if they still had Haula and Tuch?

It would be questionable if Haula would be close to the same #'s.

Tuch would be a 3rd / 4th liner, never be in top 6 and his #'s would be way down

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

I wonder if the Wild would have been better off passing on Parise and Suter and getting top draft picks for several years.

I guess it wasn't so much the draft picks, it was whether the money 7.5m a year for 13 years could have been spent better elsewhere on other free agents. Sure looks like Parise money could have been spent better and in time maybe Suter too.

At the same time the Flyers made an offer sheet for Weber. Would the Preds been better taking the four first round compensation picks and spending 7.8m of Weber money elsewhere?

 

[AKL]

It would be questionable if Haula would be close to the same #'s.

Tuch would be a 3rd / 4th liner, never be in top 6 and his #'s would be way down

I mean yeah Haula and Tuch's stat lines wouldn't be as good, but the Wild would have those skills in our bottom 6.

Haula and Tuch on our third line with Nino/Coyle/Greenway? That's an elite third line.

The point was the Wild as a team would have been much better off, at the expense of Haula and Tuch's individual stats.

 

[Al Lagoon]

A. Leipold is a dummy, and needs to but out.

B. Fletch is a good man, and was a better GM than Riseborough.

C. Don’t know if it was pressure from Leipold, but Fletcher was was too much the spendthrift with picks. Luckily the scouting staff has kept the system off life support from pretty good drafting considering what they were given.

D. Despite good drafts, the system is wafer thin. In a cap world, no bueno

 

[ClydeLee]

Really, the ED probably sunk Fletcher more than anything else. Imagine if they still had Haula and Tuch?

Why I found it impressive they made the postseason this year. Didn't look great but outlasting the blues and stars collapse was a good testament of this roster that made moves of loss to protect itself.

I just don't See what they think they're gonna do different if not trade offs.

 

[Kimota]

Says to me the Wild have a better owner than the Habs.

 

[melinko]

Major flaw of Fletcher/scouts was always erring on the side of defensively responsible solid offensive player at the expense of speed and physicality. The way he tried to patch holes with the typical 1 trick pony type of player (Hanzal (big/physical), Heatley(goals), Vanek(goals)) felt really rudimentary.

Maybe it would have worked out if every single prospect wasn't immediately rushed to the NHL and had the pressure of not being the reason we lose on them, but was the situation the team was in because they needed cheap bottom 6 players with offensive upside to push them over the hump.

Overall Fletcher was a good GM, he seemingly built the team to his vision reached the playoffs 6 straight years but it was clear their style was never going to get over the hump going forward.

The next GM is going to be in a tough position, the style/identity of the team needs to be changed but every move that needs to be made is going to be high risk and even if it fails its unlikely to drop the team far enough that it significantly changes draft position.

 

[TrillMike]

I wonder which HF poster will be hired to replace him?

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I think Boudreau gets fired at the end of the season. But after that I think he finds employment, but Minnesota will go through a slow downward spiral. After 10-15 years they'll slowly turn into a contender again.

The Nashville assistant takes Fletcher's job I think.

 

[Drewcifer]

I think Boudreau gets fired at the end of the season. But after that I think he finds employment, but Minnesota will go through a slow downward spiral. After 10-15 years they'll slowly turn into a contender again.

The Nashville assistant takes Fletcher's job I think.

A well run franchise doesn't spend 10 to 15 years in the wilderness. Three to five is about what it takes for a rebuild, seven maximum. The teams that have been bad for longer than that have been bad because of poor ownership.

 

[rynryn]

we went from perennially only dreaming about playoffs and nothing in the prospect pool to perennial playoff team under Fletcher. I think Leipold's hope is this "next step" is as easy as that. I don't know that it will be or that fans will be be very patient considering the owner is aiming for playoffs again (no retool, rebuild) and some fans want a GM with a different philosophy on what types of players they want. Those two wishes are at odds.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I wonder which HF poster will be hired to replace him?

I already mailed in my resume.