Will Fletcher be the Wild's GM next year?

[Dr Jan Itor]

Why did we lose to the Hawks in '13? (2nd NW Division)
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '14? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '15? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Stars in '16? (5th Central)
Why did we lose to the Blues in '17? (2nd Central)
Why did we lose to the Jets in '18? (3rd Central)

In the Parise-Suter era we've never won a division title, only advanced to the second round twice, no individual awards for a player/coach, and have only picked in the first two rounds five times since 2013.

At some point folks you'll realize we were never as good as Fletcher made you believe. Expect more.

Fletcher doesn’t have magical powers over me. I’m pretty damn cognizant of my own reality.

 

[Taylor26]

Central division is a murder zone right now with the playoff set up division wise as they are. We are in the best division far and away. I don't know if I would get rid of fletch. Everyone wants to put the Suter and parise contracts as a clock on what he has done. However 6 straight years in the playoffs is great with our 2016-2017 year as a high tide I feel. We went all in the 2016-17 year and got our heads kicked in and again this year. Our division is only getting stronger...He should have some money to play with if we buy out Ennis and if we sign Dumba(5.5mil x 6yrs) and Zucker(4.5-5 mil x 4x5yrs) to decent deals. Bring in a 3/4 line center and maybe ad another D man and hope Kapziroz comes over sooner than later...

 

[Saga of the Elk]

People forgot how much he struggled last year. They just see what he's doing for someone else and remember that he used to have a Wild sweater.

Erik Haula had a higher relative corsi than Ryan Suter, Charlie Coyle and Mikko Koivu last season and struggled at times with an injury. I watched the kid since high school and published numerous articles calling for him to receive more power play time and play higher in the lineup.

Honestly, if the choice came down to Koivu over Haula I completely understand why Fletcher took Koivu. You had Staal, you had JEE coming. The money was barely there for Nino and Granny. It's justifiable and it was also poor asset management.

 

[Minnesnota]

Fletcher has had 9 years to go out and get a difference maker, a true young superstar in the making. Almost every team in the NHL has either drafted or signed at least one superstar player during Chuck's tenure.

Lets take a look at what Chuck has done purely from a trading standpoint during his tenure:

MINNESOTA WILD acquire:
2009 1st round pick (#16-Nick Leddy)
2009 3rd round pick (#77 Matt Hackett)
2009 6th round pick(#160-Darcy Kuemper)
2009 7th round pick (#181-Erik Haula)
2010 2nd round pick (#56-Johan Larsson)
2010 2nd round pick (#59-Jason Zucker)
2011 1st round pick (#28-Zack Phillips)
2011 2nd round pick (#60-Mario Lucia)
2012 2nd round pick (#46-Raphael Bussieres)
2013 3rd round pick (traded to NEW YORK ISLANDERS)
2013 3rd round pick (#81-Kurtis Gabriel)
2013 7th round pick (#200-Alexandre Belanger)
2014 2nd round pick (traded to BUFFALO SABRES)
2014 4th round pick (traded to EDMONTON OILERS)
2014 6th round pick (#160-Pontus Sjalin)
2014 6th round pick (#167-Chase Lang)
2016 7th round pick (#204-Brayden Chizen)
2017 4th round pick (#97-Mason Shaw)
2018 3rd round pick
2018 3rd round pick
2018 5th round pick
2019 5th round pick
rights to Kyle Brodziak
rights to Mikko Lehtonen
Chuck Kobasew
Guillaume Latendresse
Cam Barker
Brad Staubitz
Jeff Penner
David McIntyre
Charlie Coyle
Devin Setoguchi
Darroll Powe
Dany Heatley
Erik Christensen
Kurtis Foster
Nick Palmieri
Stephane Veilleaux
Tom Gilbert
Steven Kampfer
Mike Rupp
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers
Jason Pominville
Ben Ferriero
Nino Niederreiter
Curt Gogol
Ilya Bryzgalov
Matt Moulson
Cody McCormick
Devan Dubnyk
Sean Bergenheim
Jared Knight
Chris Stewart
Jordan Leopold
David Jones
Scott Sabourin
Conor Allen
Martin Hanzal
Ryan White
Dante Salituro
Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno
Viktor Loov

NEW YORK ISLANDERS acquire:
2009 1st round pick (#12-Calvin de Haan)
2013 3rd round pick (#70-Eamon McAdam)
Cal Clutterbuck

EDMONTON OILERS acquire:
2009 4th round pick (#99-Kyle Bigos)
2009 5th round pick (#132-Olivier Roy)
2014 4th round pick (#91-William Lagesson)
Nick Schultz

BOSTON BRUINS acquire:
2011 2nd round pick (#40-Alexander Khokhlachev)
rights to Alexander Fallstrom
Craig Weller
Anton Khudobin
Greg Zanon
Zack Phillips

MONTREAL CANADIENS acquire:
Benoit Pouliot
Mike Reilly

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS acquire:
Kim Johnsson
Nick Leddy

WASHINGTON CAPITALS acquire:
Eric Belanger
Chay Genoway
Tyler Graovac

SAN JOSE SHARKS acquire:
2010 5th round pick (#129-Freddie Hamilton)
2012 2nd round pick (traded to NASHVILLE PREDATORS)
Brent Burns
Martin Havlat
James Sheppard
Chad Rau

FLORIDA PANTHERS acquire:
2010 3rd round pick (#69-Joe Basaraba)
2010 4th round pick (#99-Jonas Donskoi)
2016 3rd round pick (traded to NASHVILLE PREDATORS)

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS acquire:
2015 5th round pick (#141-Veeti Vainio)
Justin Falk
Petr Kalus
Jordan Schroeder

NEW JERSEY DEVILS acquire:
Maxim Noreau
Marek Zidlicky
Christoph Bertschy
Mario Lucia

VANCOUVER CANUCKS acquire:
2011 3rd round pick (#70-David Honzik)
2011 4th round pick (#100-Joseph Labate)

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS acquire:
2013 3rd round pick

DALLAS STARS acquire:
Eric Nystrom

NEW YORK RANGERS acquire:
Casey Wellman
Darroll Powe
Nick Palmieri
Justin Falk

OTTAWA SENATORS acquire:
Matt Kassian
Michael Keranen
Marc Hagel

BUFFALO SABRES acquire:
2013 1st round pick (#16-Nikita Zadorov)
2014 2nd round pick (#49-Vaclav Karabacek)
2014 2nd round pick (traded to WASHINGTON CAPITALS)
2016 2nd round pick (traded to FLORIDA PANTHERS)
2017 2nd round pick (#54-Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen)
2018 4th round pick
Matt Hackett
Johan Larsson
Torrey Mitchell
Marco Scandella
Jason Pominville

WINNIPEG JETS acquire:
Devin Setoguchi

ARIZONA COYOTES acquire:
2015 3rd round pick (#76-Brendan Warren)
2017 1st round pick (#23-Pierre-Olivier Joseph)
2018 2nd round pick
2019 4th round pick
Grayson Downing
Teemu Pulkkinen

CALGARY FLAMES acquire:
2016 6th round pick (#166-Matthew Phillips)
Niklas Backstrom

LOS ANGELES KINGS acquire:
Brett Sutter

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS acquire:
Alex Tuch

----------------------------------------------

Additionally, here are his Free Agent signings during his tenure:

2009:
Greg Zanon
Martin Havlat
Shane Hnidy
Jamie Fraser
Jaime Sifers
Duncan Milroy
Jon DiSalvatore
Wade Dubielewicz
Nathan Smith
Ryan Lannon
Petr Sykora
Bjorn Krupp
Andy Hilbert
Casey Wellman
Nate Prosser
Jarod Palmer

2010:
Matt Cullen
Eric Nystrom
Warren Peters
Drew Bagnall
Dennis Endras
Joel Broda
John Madden
Josh Caron
Colton Jobke
Jared Spurgeon
Jose Theodore
Jed Ortmeyer
Chay Genoway
Justin Fontaine

2011:
Jeff Taffe
Mike Lundin
Kris Fedheim
Darroll Powe

2012:
Zenon Konopka
Torrey Mitchell
Zach Parise
Ryan Suter
Jake Dowell
Brian Connelly
Brett Clark

2013:
Keith Ballard
Matt Cooke
Jonathon Blum
Jon Landry
John Curry
Brady Brassart
Zack Mitchell
Christian Folin
Michael Keranen

2014:
Thomas Vanek
Stu Bickel
Brett Sutter
Guillaume Gelinas
Joel Rechlicz
Cody Almond
Jordan Schroeder
Justin Falk
Alex Gudbranson
Hunter Warner
Ryan Carter
Grayson Downing
Brody Hoffman
Zach Palmquist

2015:
Mike Reilly
Zac Dalpe
Ruslan Fedotenko
Marc Hagel
Tyson Strachan
Jared Knight
Nick Seeler
Mario Lucia
Sam Anas
Adam Vay

2016:
Eric Staal
Alex Stalock
Chris Stewart
Pat Cannone
Victor Bartley
Ryan Carter
Mike Weber
Justin Kloos

2017:
Landon Ferraro
Alex Grant
Ryan Murphy
Cal O'Reilly
Kyle Quincy
Kyle Rau
Niklas Svedberg
Matt Cullen
Dereck Baribeau
Brennan Menell
Daniel Winnik

----------------------------------------------

Lastly, lets look at his Drafting...

2009:
Nick Leddy
Matt Hackett
Kris Foucault
Alexander Fallstrom
Darcy Kuemper
Jere Sallinen
Erik Haula
Anthony Hamburg

2010:
Mikael Granlund
Brett Bulmer
Johan Larsson
Jason Zucker
Johan Gustafsson
Dylen McKinlay

2011:
Jonas Brodin
Mario Lucia
Nick Seeler
Steve Michalek
Tyler Graovac

2012:
Matt Dumba
Raphael Bussieres
John Draeger
Adam Gilmour
Daniel Gunnarsson
Christoph Bertschy
Louis Nanne

2013:
Gustav Olofsson
Kurtis Gabriel
Dylan Labbe
Carson Soucy
Avery Peterson
Nolan De Jong
Alexandre Belanger

2014:
Alex Tuch
Louis Belpedio
Kaapo Kahkonen
Tanner Faith
Pontus Sjalin
Chase Lang
Reid Duke
Pavel Jenys

2015:
Joel Eriksson Ek
Jordan Greenway
Ales Stezka
Kirill Kaprizov
Nicholas Boka
Gustav Bouramman
Jack Sadek

2016:
Luke Kunin
Brandon Duhaime
Dmitry Sokolov
Brayden Chizen

2017:
Ivan Lodnia
Mason Shaw
Bryce Misley
Jacob Golden
Andrei Svetlakov
Nick Swaney

----------------------------------------------

I'll let people form their own opinions, but the organization has done much better over the last 3 years in the draft (Ek, Greenway, Kaprizov, Kunin, Sokolov, Lodnia). A big issue though is that Chuck has failed to acquire additional pieces through free agency and trades to help stock Iowa while at the same time providing the big club with the pieces they need to put them in serious contention.

A new set of eyes and a new direction is what this organization needs. Hopefully we go out and get a GM who will provide a clear and concise path to creating a true cup contender. A healthy balance of drafting and developing while acquiring key pieces through trade is being proven to be the successful method. Look no further than the two juggernauts in Winnipeg and Nashville for proof.

 

[dBoon]

CF has pissed away way too many pick for my liking.

I think he can convince the owner he deserves to stay tho.

 

[2Pair]

Don't see how this year wasn't his "prove it " year. Since the end of last season, what positive moves has he made?

 

[BagHead]

Of course it is - when you don't win, especially. I know Hanzal wasn't a complete bust but a 1st and 2nd is a lot to give up for the five games that mattered and the one goal he got us.

I felt at the time that it was a lot to give up, and I still do, but that was the price for the best rental available at the center position, and we didn't know we'd be one and done that post-season. The fact of the matter was that Haula wasn't playing all that well, and was our 3rd line center, meaning that we had another player playing even worse. That was the most obvious blemish on our team, and that trade fixed it immediately. We looked good before that trade, and then we looked like a true contender after it. I simply can't fault Fletcher for giving up what he did when it looked like we had a legitimate chance at the cup. Our information today is different than his was that day, so it's easy to say "he did the wrong thing" but it truly didn't look wrong at the time. It looked expensive, sure, but not wrong. That's all I'm really arguing.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Hanzal was a panic move after Toews had a very unimpressive hat trick against us.

 

[thestonedkoala]

What would anyone do differently? It's hard enough to make the playoffs, and then anything can happen in the playoffs. Keep Fletcher. Fans are content, which is all that really matters here. We can't go back in time to change anything. Fletcher learns, just really slowly. Maybe add some more people to the front office to help with the scouting, but he'll be here until Koivu leaves - if not Parise/Suter. Leopold is happyish. Why change a good thing?

 

[TaLoN]

You obviously haven't talked to many Wild fans.

Content does not come close to the right description.

 

[Drewcifer]

How much do perceptions change if Winnipeg ends up winning the cup? They could.

 

[Wild11MN]

How much do perceptions change if Winnipeg ends up winning the cup? They could.

None probably.

 

[TaLoN]

How much do perceptions change if Winnipeg ends up winning the cup? They could.

Except our complaints are mostly how the team had very little in way of effort, no fight in their game. They showed no desperation.

Winny wins the cup, that perception won't change.

 

[thestonedkoala]

You obviously haven't talked to many Wild fans.

Content does not come close to the right description.

So, what? Are they going to boycott the team next year? Not buy playoff tickets? What is Fletcher to do? This team needs to get younger so dropping players like Zucker and Coyle make no sense. Dropping players like Staal doesn't either. So, what?

 

[Saga of the Elk]

So, what? Are they going to boycott the team next year? Not buy playoff tickets? What is Fletcher to do? This team needs to get younger so dropping players like Zucker and Coyle make no sense. Dropping players like Staal doesn't either. So, what?

Trading a 25 year old guy who has been solid for your team for a 20 year old who has scored two NHL goals??? Seems ludicrous, but Chuck Fletcher did just that. He will need to do something very similar to turn this thing around.

 

[2Pair]

What would anyone do differently? It's hard enough to make the playoffs, and then anything can happen in the playoffs. Keep Fletcher. Fans are content, which is all that really matters here. We can't go back in time to change anything. Fletcher learns, just really slowly. Maybe add some more people to the front office to help with the scouting, but he'll be here until Koivu leaves - if not Parise/Suter. Leopold is happyish. Why change a good thing?

You sure seem to have your finger on the pulse.

 

[2Pair]

So, what? Are they going to boycott the team next year? Not buy playoff tickets? What is Fletcher to do? This team needs to get younger so dropping players like Zucker and Coyle make no sense. Dropping players like Staal doesn't either. So, what?

Why do they need to get younger?

 

[TaLoN]

Fans are content, which is all that really matters here.

You obviously haven't talked to many Wild fans.

Content does not come close to the right description.

So, what?

So the fans being content is all that matters, but they aren't at all content, then you say "so what?"

Uh. Not sure where you're going with this... You're the one who said the fans opinion is all that matters. You can't change that one you realize you misread fan opinion and thus it doesn't fit your plan.

 

[thestonedkoala]

So the fans being content is all that matters, but they aren't at all content, then you say "so what?"

Uh. Not sure where you're going with this... You're the one who said the fans opinion is all that matters. You can't change that one you realize you misread fan opinion and thus it doesn't fit your plan.

No, I said, so if they are discontent, what are they going to do about it? You said before, all that matters is getting to the playoffs. 15 other teams don't get to the playoffs. So, just getting to the playoffs is an accomplishment of themselves. So, the question is, what are fans going to do to show they are discontented about the team? Give up season tickets? Don't go to the playoffs? That'll show Leipold!

 

[Wild11MN]

No, I said, so if they are discontent, what are they going to do about it? You said before, all that matters is getting to the playoffs. 15 other teams don't get to the playoffs. So, just getting to the playoffs is an accomplishment of themselves. So, the question is, what are fans going to do to show they are discontented about the team? Give up season tickets? Don't go to the playoffs? That'll show Leipold!

I know you've changed your narrative to this over the past few months, but you might as well wait until the offseason to see what changes are made before going off with this.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I know you've changed your narrative to this over the past few months, but you might as well wait until the offseason to see what changes are made before going off with this.

Except what? It's funny to me to see how many people are jumping ship this off-season or calling for such a drastic overhaul of the team and yet cling to certain players to stay that offer very little value to the team long term. Not only that, but up until this year the narrative has always been that this team has made it to the playoffs. When did the narrative change? Last week?

 

[Wild11MN]

Except what? It's funny to me to see how many people are jumping ship this off-season or calling for such a drastic overhaul of the team and yet cling to certain players to stay that offer very little value to the team long term. Not only that, but up until this year the narrative has always been that this team has made it to the playoffs. When did the narrative change? Last week?

I don't think people are happy just making the playoffs? I think the reaction is that generally, playoffs > no playoffs. You can clearly see the reaction on the boards is different this year, and for the first time, GMCF is in obvious trouble of keeping his job. People want certain players to stay because they have a different opinion than you. I don't think it's that complex.

 

[Jagged Ice]

This is the first year I confidently believe there's a chance he's let go.

I felt this way right after the series with Winnipeg. I thought for a moment this era would finally be over. Just for a brief moment though.
I think he stays.

 

[Uberdachen]

Super sciencey number-based assessment here:
Last year I remember seeing lots of Wild gear around playoff time.
This year I saw almost no green whatsoever, and got shit from strangers the last few days I wore mine.

Conclusion: That translates to dollars somewhere, somehow. Probably origami'd into a doll for the purpose of showing where it was touched.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I don't think people are happy just making the playoffs? I think the reaction is that generally, playoffs > no playoffs. You can clearly see the reaction on the boards is different this year, and for the first time, GMCF is in obvious trouble of keeping his job. People want certain players to stay because they have a different opinion than you. I don't think it's that complex.

It isn't that complex, but on the other hand is anyone surprised? At least this year Fletcher has a good excuse on why they didn't get as far as last year. No big trades at the deadline. A lot of injuries scattered throughout the season. My question lies with the fact you remove Fletcher, but then what? What comes next?