Chuck Fletcher done as GM of Minnesota Wild.

[Bleedred]

Didn't do that bad of a job there, but didn't do that good of a job either.

I'm sure they had probably hoped for at least a conference finals appearance by now and maybe he gets kept around.

 

[Corto]

Boudreau will be around for another season, but the heat is squarely on him now, as well as the players, who lay down like dogs in the playoffs the past two years.

To be fair, they lost to a better team.

Sometimes that happens.

 

[TaLoN]

So do you think an owner playing GM is positive and deserving of praise? Seriously, what's there to get too excited about today if winning a Cup is the goal?

Either way, I can take much solace from the fact that I was right all along in the past ~8 years, and the haters were on the wrong track. It's too much for them to admit obviously.

Hey guys, I said A GM was bad 8 years ago and he wad fired today, see? I was right all along!

Never mind the fact that 99% of coaches and GMs lose their job because teams want to go in a new direction.

Even the best of them get replaced in such a manner.

Where the team was when he came in, and where he took the team shows how wrong you were. You don't go from a team with no prospects and very few assets to a perennial playoff team by simply being bad at your job.

Fletcher clearly did good work and it was proven out in the standings, he just hit a slick patch in the road and couldn't get the car moving again.

No, his being replaced now doesn't prove anything about what you said 8 years ago, because what you said then has already been disproven several times over already.

 

[TaLoN]

Strong rumours that Pierre McGuire will get his chance with this job now.

Paul Fenton is the front-runner according to Russo.

 

[FVM]

Hey guys, I said A GM was bad 8 years ago and he wad fired today, see? I was right all along!

Never mind the fact that 99% of coaches and GMs lose their job because teams want to go in a new direction.

Even the best of them get replaced in such a manner.

Where the team was when he came in, and where he took the team shows how wrong you were. You don't go from a team with no prospects and very few assets to a perennial playoff team by simply being bad at your job.

Fletcher clearly did good work and it was proven out in the standings, he just hit a slick patch in the road and couldn't get the car moving again.

No, his being replaced now doesn't prove anything about what you said 8 years ago, because what you said then has already been disproven several times over already.

Seriously.

"Hey this GM sucks"
...
GM builds a perennial playoff team out of very modest assets
...
"This GM does everything wrong, how can you not see it?"
...
Team goes on to have decent success but lacking a real playoff run
...
9 years have passed, GM is replaced
...
"See guys I was right all along the GM sucked!1"

 

[BagHead]

What is your definition of "rebuilding". Time between playoff appearances?

I didn't define "rebuilding" at any time, but I did define "tanking" as having your team's originally owned draft pick in the top 10 of the draft for consecutive seasons. I don't recall anymore if I had it as 3 straight seasons, or just "consecutive seasons", which could allow for 2 seasons, only. Sorry, it was last off-season that I posted it. I can't find it anymore!

 

[TaLoN]

Seriously.

"Hey this GM sucks"
...
GM builds a perennial playoff team out of very modest assets
...
"This GM does everything wrong, how can you not see it?"
...
Team goes on to have decent success but lacking a real playoff run
...
9 years have passed, GM is replaced
...
"See guys I was right all along the GM sucked!1"

It's like saying when Lidstrom was 35, that he should retire, he's not a good player anymore.

7 years and 4 Norris trophies later, he retires....

See, I told you he should retire!

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

About 8 years too late, but better late than never. You can see early on that Fletcher didn't have a strong ability to identify talent. He could spend money, but that doesn't build Cup winners. Wild fans didn't want to hear it, but what I warned about way back then came true. Years of mediocrity was the best we could expect from Fletcher. And now we've burned most of a decade and are in an even tougher position to contend for the Cup anytime soon. Wild fans deserve better.

But I think what's most troubling is the owner further cementing himself as the largest problem for this franchise. He refuses to accept building a contender slowly - with the probable losing associated with that process - so he handcuffs whoever is managing the team. He's like a crazed fan that doesn't understand that you can't just go out and buy or easily trade your way to a Cup. I don't trust him at all. He's already stomping on the duties of the next GM by saying he will only accept a tinkering. As long as Leipold owns this team, I don't have much hope for anything beyond ugly, mediocre hockey and an overpriced fan experience at the arena. Wild fans deserve a better owner.

But you just said it yourself, Leipold is the "problem". If that's the case, why any vitriol towards the GM over the last 8 years? What does it matter if he was fired 8 years ago, today, or 8 years from now?

When it comes down to it, 4 teams have won the Cup in the 9 years that Fletcher has been here, none of them were bad in the drafts that you wanted us to be, and I see no superpower in the league right now that would've followed that timeline.

 

[Combat Koala]

Always struck me as an average GM. Seemed to me he never really had the balls to make a big gamble at the deadline to maybe go for the Cup. Took his chance with Parise and Suter though, which obviously did not work out (at least yet) and with their eventual decline I don't see Minnesota going anywhere past the second round, barring a miracle. He didn't really have all that many assets to dangle through the years and with the Wild being mostly a playoff team he didn't have a lot of high draft picks either so there's that. Team was just average, always. Then again, not once throughout his tenure with the Wild did I think that "Hey, this team has the potential to go to the Finals".

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Always struck me as an average GM. Seemed to me he never really had the balls to make a big gamble at the deadline to maybe go for the Cup. Took his chance with Parise and Suter though, which obviously did not work out (at least yet) and with their eventual decline I don't see Minnesota going anywhere past the second round, barring a miracle. He didn't really have all that many assets to dangle through the years and with the Wild being mostly a playoff team he didn't have a lot of high draft picks either so there's that. Team was just average, always. Then again, not once throughout his tenure with the Wild did I think that "Hey, this team has the potential to go to the Finals".

The Pominville and Hanzal trades were both at the TDL, both involved us losing our 1st round picks, and I'd say both were fairly large gambles.

 

[Uberdachen]

About 8 years too late, but better late than never. You can see early on that Fletcher didn't have a strong ability to identify talent. He could spend money, but that doesn't build Cup winners. Wild fans didn't want to hear it, but what I warned about way back then came true. Years of mediocrity was the best we could expect from Fletcher. And now we've burned most of a decade and are in an even tougher position to contend for the Cup anytime soon. Wild fans deserve better.

But I think what's most troubling is the owner further cementing himself as the largest problem for this franchise. He refuses to accept building a contender slowly - with the probable losing associated with that process - so he handcuffs whoever is managing the team. He's like a crazed fan that doesn't understand that you can't just go out and buy or easily trade your way to a Cup. I don't trust him at all. He's already stomping on the duties of the next GM by saying he will only accept a tinkering. As long as Leipold owns this team, I don't have much hope for anything beyond ugly, mediocre hockey and an overpriced fan experience at the arena. Wild fans deserve a better owner.

Cool. What do you deserve?

 

[These Are The Days]

About damn time this happened. The Wild just need to completely start over. That team is a mess

 

[boredmale]

About damn time this happened. The Wild just need to completely start over. That team is a mess

Main problem with the Wild is they are one of those good teams that never get the chance to draft a top end player. Those elite forwards that fall to 15-30 in the draft are rare

 

[The Big Unit]

Zach Parise's time in Minnesota is done. They should move on from him as he's disappointed the last 3 years and hasn't played a full 82 games since 2012. That $7.5M cap hit is way too big for another 7 years. If they can find a trade partner for Parise, they can make a serious pitch for John Tavares (not saying he'd choose Minnesota but they could offer him a lot of money).

 

[57special]

Fletcher has been a solid GM and I'm a bit indifferent on his firing. Still two things stick in my my crawl and both concern goalies. The inexplicable 3 year contract he gave Niklas Backstrom after a terrible season and the 6 year contract to Dubnyk with a no-trade clause. You don't ever give a goalie that type a contract based on a 1/2 season performance. It's clear he'll never be more than average and has been nothing but mediocre in the playoffs. With that said 6 straight playoff appearances while being in the toughest division is pretty impressive.

Dubnyk's deal is very reasonable, and a NTC is not the same thing as a NMC(which Parise, Koivu, and Suter have).

 

[These Are The Days]

Main problem with the Wild is they are one of those good teams that never get the chance to draft a top end player. Those elite forwards that fall to 15-30 in the draft are rare

Absolutely. For every Koivu and Suter they're missing out on a Hughes or Dahlin to make their team better. Credit to Fletcher, he tried to build a winner but it never amounted to anything. Sometimes it just doesn't work out but this has been dragging out at least 2 years too long. The Wild are best going back to the drawing board and looking to compete in a couple of years. There's some really good prospects coming up over the next few years.

This might not be the place to say it but by the time they fired Yeo and Torchetti took over only to lose in the 1st round it was pretty clear to me that the Wild were just a paper tiger

 

[57special]

To be fair, they lost to a better team.

Sometimes that happens.

Yeah, but he could have redeemed himself after losing to STL last year in 5 games, who were definitely not considered to be a better team. I think that Fletcher might have survived if they series had gone 6 or 7, and the final game wasn't a 5-0 beat down where the Wild weren't competitive.

 

[57special]

Zach Parise's time in Minnesota is done. They should move on from him as he's disappointed the last 3 years and hasn't played a full 82 games since 2012. That $7.5M cap hit is way too big for another 7 years. If they can find a trade partner for Parise, they can make a serious pitch for John Tavares (not saying he'd choose Minnesota but they could offer him a lot of money).

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[NotYou]

About damn time this happened. The Wild just need to completely start over. That team is a mess

How would you actually do this though? What pieces/players would you like to acquire?

 

[Vachon23]

when you replace Fletcher by McGuire that would be soon funny

 

[Bazeek]

Absolutely. For every Koivu and Suter they're missing out on a Hughes or Dahlin to make their team better. Credit to Fletcher, he tried to build a winner but it never amounted to anything. Sometimes it just doesn't work out but this has been dragging out at least 2 years too long. The Wild are best going back to the drawing board and looking to compete in a couple of years. There's some really good prospects coming up over the next few years.

This might not be the place to say it but by the time they fired Yeo and Torchetti took over only to lose in the 1st round it was pretty clear to me that the Wild were just a paper tiger

Or Yakupov. Or Dal Colle. Or Reinhart. Or Strome. Or...

That game isn't what many here make it out to be, especially with the newer lottery odds.

 

[Vachon23]

sign 2 elite players in there prime you don't say no...

 

[The Big Unit]

Thanks for pointing that out.

No problem champ. What's your solution genius?

 

[Nharris31]

Absolutely. For every Koivu and Suter they're missing out on a Hughes or Dahlin to make their team better. Credit to Fletcher, he tried to build a winner but it never amounted to anything. Sometimes it just doesn't work out but this has been dragging out at least 2 years too long. The Wild are best going back to the drawing board and looking to compete in a couple of years. There's some really good prospects coming up over the next few years.

This might not be the place to say it but by the time they fired Yeo and Torchetti took over only to lose in the 1st round it was pretty clear to me that the Wild were just a paper tiger

This assuming they win the draft lottery its minnesota sports team so it’s never going to happen.

 

[Voight]

Fenton is the frontrunner according to Russo (assuming Nashville gives permission).

His name comes up every year for GM vacancies, hes pretty much biding his time in Nashville until Poile retires, if he ever does

He's had his pick of the litter in GM jobs the last 10 years or so, I think Nashville pays him close to GM money so there is no reason to leave where you've been for 20 years. Yea being the head honcho is nice but you also have 1000x the pressure.

That's my fear, I'd rather not hand the job to a rookie, and yes he's a rookie I don't care what he did prior to the NHL

He's been AGM for the last 3 years. Unlike Phoenix's GM who ran a stats website. Every GM is a rookie at some point.

I think its impressive he was an OHL GM at 25, the OHL is the ultimate old boys club.