3 candidates to replace Chuck Fletcher as Minnesota Wild GM

In an announcement on Monday morning Minnesota Wild Owner Craig Leipold announced General Manager Chuck Fletcher would not return. Here are three suitable replacements for his job.

The Minnesota Wild general manager job is an interesting one for anyone who is interested.

There is a solid stable of veterans and a decent core of young up-and-coming talent. Ryan Suter and Zach Parise eat up most of Minnesota’s cap space, making free agency a little bit of a challenge. Matt Dumba will be the biggest challenge when it comes to re-signing free agents. He is a restricted free agent and will want a long-term contract.

The incoming general manager will inherit a playoff team that was able to gain 101 points in the toughest division in hockey. Here are three candidates for the job.

Paul Fenton

Paul Fenton is the current assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators. He has worked under the winningest general manager in NHL history, David Poile. Fenton was rumored to be a candidate for a few general manager jobs last offseason, but ended up returning to Nashville. With another year of experience and another deep run for the Predators, Fenton will be at the top of a lot of teams list.

Fenton has been in hockey for a long time, starting as a player at Boston University in 1980. Fenton worked his way up through the AHL and eventually cracked the NHL. He finished with more than 400 games played. After retiring he moved to the front office and has been a part of the Nashville front office since.

This is a great fit for both Fenton and the Wild. A young general manager with no experience would be walking into a relatively established team and there is not a lot of heavy lifting to do right off the bat. The core of veterans is established, there are some trade assets available and the prospect pipeline is promising. This is a fit for the Wild because they have grown stale as a team. They consistently are in the playoffs but usually are eliminated early. A fresh perspective and a few new pieces could take the Wild to the next level. It is likely the Minnesota Wild will not be able to interview Fenton until the Nashville Predators are eliminated or at least move on to the later rounds.