Paul Fenton has been fired as GM after just one season.

[AJgoal]

23 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

 Hextall sounds risky in that way, too introverted or paranoid, or what is it, but why the need to have a small inner circle? 

 

I do wonder how much of the "Hextall was a bad man" news was real, and how much of it was justification for firing him when/how they did. It's not that I doubt that he ran a tight ship - it's clear he did from the lack of any news of substance breaking prior to it happening. He apparently told the president to stay in his lane with regards to hockey ops shortly before he was fired, which absolutely may have hastened his way out the door. It certainly appears that he limited the access that the alumni had, which was a departure from the way the club was run, and something that Snider probably would not have been a fan of. But there was never a hint anywhere of a toxic working environment, and for a team this heavily covered, it seems unlikely that something wouldn't creep out over the years. The truth is most likely somewhere in the middle. Hextall was generally able to find value in trade, hit well on his picks, and get players signed to good contracts. His failings were in the area of professional scouting and allegiance to his coach.

 

Given Hextall's process in Philly, he may have informed Leopold that the Wild needed a process like the Flyers followed in order to get the team in shape to compete long term. If Leopold was willing to tear it down or at least semi-rebuild, I think Hextall would be a fit. However, it doesn't seem (from the outside) that that's how ownership sees the team.

[CreaseAndAssist]

Well I wouldn't think they'd sign a GM they didn't feel was on board with their vision.  While Fenton turned out to be a jackpipe to those in the Wild front office and media..he was trying to fulfill the owner's vision.  He wasn't just straight up rebuild.  It was an attempt to reconstruct the team on the fly.  

 

While I wouldn't mind Hextall, he may not fit with what Leipold wants, especially if he plans to run things the same way he did with the Flyers.  

 

Don't get me wrong...a lot of us would have been less critical of Fenton if he stuck with the "younger and faster" mantra he claimed to want to establish.  The problem was he made moves that contradicted it and it was clear there was no real vision.  It was just random things and by the sounds of it...he'd make a move or two and then go on vacation.  

[IllaZilla]

2 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

Well I wouldn't think they'd sign a GM they didn't feel was on board with their vision.  While Fenton turned out to be a jackpipe to those in the Wild front office and media..he was trying to fulfill the owner's vision.  He wasn't just straight up rebuild.  It was an attempt to reconstruct the team on the fly.  

 

While I wouldn't mind Hextall, he may not fit with what Leipold wants, especially if he plans to run things the same way he did with the Flyers.  

 

Don't get me wrong...a lot of us would have been less critical of Fenton if he stuck with the "younger and faster" mantra he claimed to want to establish.  The problem was he made moves that contradicted it and it was clear there was no real vision.  It was just random things and by the sounds of it...he'd make a move or two and then go on vacation.  

That’s what Russo insinuated. Fenton just did stuff to do stuff, with no real vision or forethought. 

[sweetshot]

6 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

I can not believe what a soap opera the Wild has turned into. We really need a very good GM now. Someone who's at home co-operating with people, who doesn't feel threatened by the fact people will have differing opinions. Hextall sounds risky in that way, too introverted or paranoid, or what is it, but why the need to have a small inner circle? Chiarelli has been a disaster for the oilers. The others sound ok. But is any of them a really exceptional GM?

Couple of them are decent, but IMO none of them are exceptional. The ones that have proven themselves at some point in time as exceptional we know about and are all taken. It seems to be a very small group of individuals qualified for the position and most have been GM's previously. Maybe there is a relatively unknown candidate(s) out there for whom this would be his first GM job, but I really have a hard time trusting CL to find him.

 

I'm very concerned for the Wild right now as they are at a crossroads, this is probably the most important decision this franchise has ever had to make to this point. 

[sweetshot]

22 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

No, he isn't.  He said as much on Barriero the day it was announced Fenton was fired.  Also, Russo said Kurvers isn't in the mix mostly because of his health concerns.  

 

It amazing how many different people, not just Minnesota media but national media that either tweeted or wrote parts of articles saying how the Wild should not hire Chiarelli.  Even though he may fit the experience requirement, but given his mistakes and with the talent he's squandered in his tenures in Boston and Edmonton...they know fans will riot and credibility will be damaged further by hiring Chiarelli.  

Just kidding about Nanne.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 hour ago, sweetshot said:

Just kidding about Nanne.

 

Yea, you DID kinda hit that line drive over his head and all the way to the wall for a stand up double, didn't ya? 

[lynxrattle]

2 hours ago, sweetshot said:

I'm very concerned for the Wild right now as they are at a crossroads, this is probably the most important decision this franchise has ever had to make to this point. 

You're probably right. They can't make a habit out of firing GM's this quickly, so they are going to have to live with the new GM for quite awhile, no matter how he succeeds in sorting this mess out.

 

And the mess is really a mess. It's so bad that it's hard to bring good players in, and the best players we have seem quite open about considering playing elsewhere. If it goes on like this, it becomes a forced, uncontrolled rebuild as proven players won't come here, and the ones we have leave as soon as they can. Then we would be forced to play with the unproven players in the prospect pool, and any outcast desperate enough to take the Wild as his last chance to make it in the NHL. And we don't even have McDavid, so we wouldn't have that consolation to take us through the mayhem.

 

Which makes me think that the next GM must be someone with a lot of respect. The name must counteract the deserved disrespect we currently suffer from.

[lynxrattle]

AjGoal, thanks, that was a thoughtful post.

[rottenrefs]

What the team really needs isn't what Leipold wants.

 

We've seen Leipold's "vision." Havlat, Heatley, Vanek, Backstrom re-signing, then Koivu's overpaid extended deals... Loading up Vanek & Heatley's ice time when it's obvious to everyone not on the payroll they no longer have any drive or desire.

 

Zucker up - down, up - down 7 times in one season, AHL - NHL, Granlund given every chance in the book regardless of his first pathetic year way in over his head.

 

Eight years of upper management calling for younger players to "step up" all the while giving preferential treatment to terribly waning players well off their pace. Dumping any player who does show incentive, drive, heart... For cheap recalls.

 

The Wild for all practical purpose since Leipold bought the club is a retirement center for friends among friends coming here to play soft hockey, hunt, fish, wine - dine (live in a bubble away from media scrutiny), visit children's hospitals with their kindness... Playing hockey hard for 10 minutes out of every 60 then be fed every excuse in the book how they want to be a Cup contender while doing so with their top two lines being no better than any other teams 2nd line... Always falling short of having a top line capable of contending against any team... And if one did start catching wind - blow it up. Scrambled egg line changes.

 

Having bad Power Play units. The 2nd PP unit out-hustling the first PP unit and scoring just as much in 15 seconds of ice time as the 1st unit who couldn't buy their way across the blue line without first burning 1:45 off the clock... Having a bad PP coach, having a bad head coach allowing for the bad PP coach... When it's really the players who are behind who's on the PP (for how long) and who's not.

 

Brunette, Yeo and Fletcher were all safe with the poor PP because it wasn't their call. Same with Boudreau & Co.

 

People blame Parise & Suter for hiring Adam Oates, but who else made that happen? Likely Leipold giving them the nod (and Fletcher getting the green light by Leipold) behind Yeo's back. People, players, managers & coaches can't just walk in on one another's practices without some kind of authorization first taking place. Which is also likely why Suter and Parise never took any heat over it by the front office.

 

The young blood on this team were trained to be doormats. Make no mistake... They were never supposed to surpass the veterans because Leipold would not permit it.

[hf101]

The Wild have requested permission from the Canadiens to talk with Scott Mellanby as a 3rd candidate.

[CreaseAndAssist]

6 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

What the team really needs isn't what Leipold wants.

 

We've seen Leipold's "vision." Havlat, Heatley, Vanek, Backstrom re-signing, then Koivu's overpaid extended deals... Loading up Vanek & Heatley's ice time when it's obvious to everyone not on the payroll they no longer have any drive or desire.

 

Zucker up - down, up - down 7 times in one season, AHL - NHL, Granlund given every chance in the book regardless of his first pathetic year way in over his head.

 

Eight years of upper management calling for younger players to "step up" all the while giving preferential treatment to terribly waning players well off their pace. Dumping any player who does show incentive, drive, heart... For cheap recalls.

 

The Wild for all practical purpose since Leipold bought the club is a retirement center for friends among friends coming here to play soft hockey, hunt, fish, wine - dine (live in a bubble away from media scrutiny), visit children's hospitals with their kindness... Playing hockey hard for 10 minutes out of every 60 then be fed every excuse in the book how they want to be a Cup contender while doing so with their top two lines being no better than any other teams 2nd line... Always falling short of having a top line capable of contending against any team... And if one did start catching wind - blow it up. Scrambled egg line changes.

 

Having bad Power Play units. The 2nd PP unit out-hustling the first PP unit and scoring just as much in 15 seconds of ice time as the 1st unit who couldn't buy their way across the blue line without first burning 1:45 off the clock... Having a bad PP coach, having a bad head coach allowing for the bad PP coach... When it's really the players who are behind who's on the PP (for how long) and who's not.

 

Brunette, Yeo and Fletcher were all safe with the poor PP because it wasn't their call. Same with Boudreau & Co.

 

People blame Parise & Suter for hiring Adam Oates, but who else made that happen? Likely Leipold giving them the nod (and Fletcher getting the green light by Leipold) behind Yeo's back. People, players, managers & coaches can't just walk in on one another's practices without some kind of authorization first taking place. Which is also likely why Suter and Parise never took any heat over it by the front office.

 

The young blood on this team were trained to be doormats. Make no mistake... They were never supposed to surpass the veterans because Leipold would not permit it.

 

Good post...lots of mixed messages from this organization.  Double standards galore...and outsiders wonder why we're so frustrated with this team.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

1 hour ago, hf101 said:

The Wild have requested permission from the Canadiens to talk with Scott Mellanby as a 3rd candidate.

 

He's mentioned in my GM draft search article...and I said as much on Page 3 of the thread.  

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 hours ago, hf101 said:

The Wild have requested permission from the Canadiens to talk with Scott Mellanby as a 3rd candidate.

 

Not much experience as an actual GM, though being an assistant serves as some experience...and in the hotbed Montreal market.
But working in Vancouver as advisor (another hockey hotbed) and in St. Louis as an assistant again.
Some good stuff there, but again, no actual "big chair" experience.

Plus being the type of player that was a team captain should say something about leadership abilities.

In theory, a set of eyes fresh as his would be ideal...….. but would it work in the current crazy world of the Minnesota Wild. That is the question.

[IllaZilla]

19 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Not much experience as an actual GM, though being an assistant serves as some experience...and in the hotbed Montreal market.
But working in Vancouver as advisor (another hockey hotbed) and in St. Louis as an assistant again.
Some good stuff there, but again, no actual "big chair" experience.

Plus being the type of player that was a team captain should say something about leadership abilities.

In theory, a set of eyes fresh as his would be ideal...….. but would it work in the current crazy world of the Minnesota Wild. That is the question.

 

I think the Wild are going to have to go the assistant GM route again, because of Leipold's timing. I don't think there are any really good candidates out there that were full GM's. Chiarelli's a one-man clown show, and Hextall sounds like micromanager (which was what Fenton was). Maybe Lombardi, but I don't think Leipold wants a slow, lumbering, defense first team. I haven't heard if the Wild have talked to Waddell, or if he may be using the Wild situation as leverage for a new contract with the 'Canes...

 

But hopefully they do a little more due diligence than they did last time and actually make some phone calls and talk to people about their candidates rather than just go with Leipold's man crush...

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

3 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I think the Wild are going to have to go the assistant GM route again, because of Leipold's timing. I don't think there are any really good candidates out there that were full GM's. Chiarelli's a one-man clown show, and Hextall sounds like micromanager (which was what Fenton was). Maybe Lombardi, but I don't think Leipold wants a slow, lumbering, defense first team. I haven't heard if the Wild have talked to Waddell, or if he may be using the Wild situation as leverage for a new contract with the 'Canes...

 

But hopefully they do a little more due diligence than they did last time and actually make some phone calls and talk to people about their candidates rather than just go with Leipold's man crush...

 

I suppose.
Having such little time to come up with a good hire certainly doesn't help matters.

Goes back to the horrible timing of the Fenton firing.

Edited August 4, 2019 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[IllaZilla]

2 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I suppose.
Having such little time to come up with a good hire certainly doesn't help matters.

Goes back to the horrible timing of the Fenton firing.

 

Yeah, Leipold had really bad timing on the firing. If the negative player exit interviews were the straw the broke the camel's back, why wait a month and a half to drop the axe? 

 

A lot of people are giving Leipold credit for lowering the boom after only a year, but he lit the match for this dumpster fire with his "We only need a few tweaks, not a rebuild" comment prior to hiring Fenton and then threw the match into the dumpster when he did no due diligence with Fenton and just hired him because "he liked his ability to scout"...

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

John Ferguson Jr's (current Bruins director of player personnel and former Maple Leafs GM) has cropped up among possible candidates as well.

Ferguson's track record with the Leafs wasn't so hot and he was highly criticized for many of his player and management moves...but that was about 15 years ago. 
Player pipeline in Boston seems to be pretty good and he is in charge of that now. 

Dave Nonis, current advisor to the Ducks GM and a special assignment scout, has seen his name come up also.
He also had work with the Maple Leafs as GM

Edited August 4, 2019 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[IllaZilla]

Whomever they hire, it won't master two whoops and a hill of beans until everyone stays in their lane, including Leipold...

[CreaseAndAssist]

3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I think the Wild are going to have to go the assistant GM route again, because of Leipold's timing. I don't think there are any really good candidates out there that were full GM's. Chiarelli's a one-man clown show, and Hextall sounds like micromanager (which was what Fenton was). Maybe Lombardi, but I don't think Leipold wants a slow, lumbering, defense first team. I haven't heard if the Wild have talked to Waddell, or if he may be using the Wild situation as leverage for a new contract with the 'Canes...

 

But hopefully they do a little more due diligence than they did last time and actually make some phone calls and talk to people about their candidates rather than just go with Leipold's man crush...

 

(shrugs)  While Fenton was paranoid about leaks, I'm not sure he was a micromanager.  I think if anything, he was sort of hands on / hands off manager.  When he felt he done what was needed he'd give himself a break.  I think they need a full GM.  They need someone to be working to re-sign Spurgeon.  

 

I agree with you, I don't get why he decided to wait that extra month and half if the exit interviews really eroded Leipold's confidence in Fenton's ability to do the job.  But there is nothing that can be done about that now.  

[IllaZilla]

9 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

(shrugs)  While Fenton was paranoid about leaks, I'm not sure he was a micromanager.  I think if anything, he was sort of hands on / hands off manager.  When he felt he done what was needed he'd give himself a break.  I think they need a full GM.  They need someone to be working to re-sign Spurgeon.  

 

I agree with you, I don't get why he decided to wait that extra month and half if the exit interviews really eroded Leipold's confidence in Fenton's ability to do the job.  But there is nothing that can be done about that now.  

 

Yeah, Fenton really screwed the team with his "negotiating" tactics. Instead of getting Spurgeon signed right away, no, lets dick around and go on vcation for a month and let Jacob Trouba sign for $8M/season...

 

And I also think it's interesting his wunderkind Kevin Fiala wasn't signed right away as well...

 

Maybe he wanted to wait and get through the draft with Fenton before he lowered the boom on him...that's the only reason I can think of waiting...but why not axe Fenton earlier, get a better candidate pool and just rely on Kurvers for the draft? 

 

Who knows...this team is just an idiot convention right now...

Edited August 4, 2019 by IllaZilla

[EJ0226]

On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 9:37 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Good post...lots of mixed messages from this organization.  Double standards galore...and outsiders wonder why we're so frustrated with this team.  

@rottenrefs post is fantastic! Exactly how I feel and the reason I have been saying for a very long time that even the mighty Scotty Bowman couldn't fix this mess. It all starts with Leipold. A guy who knows basketball but couldn't afford to own a NBA team. He still wanted to be "one of the boys" of owning a sports team and found hockey was in his price range. Guy has no knowledge of the sport yet is making his decisions involved in all aspects of the game.

 

Sadly, I think the only chance the Wild really do have is walking away from a ton of these guys. We have a lot of players who have been the Fletcher era which was worship the old, high paid vets and not develop the young guys. You could tell this created a atmosphere that was hostile unless you were a overpaid vet. Factor in that some of the vets would wine and dine with the owner and go over their coaches head and hire other people who come in on your coaches meetings and receive zero punishment and it paints a ugly picture.

 

Fenton comes in and completely throws a monkey wrench into what was going on. Of course this didn't actually fix things but made it worse. Now even the overpaid vets get to feel what a toxic environment feels like and boy did they raise up a stink and cry about it.

 

I don't know if this roster of guys who have gone through these two GMs would be able to band together and become a team like the Blues. The three guys they built their franchise around are not a year or two from retirement and have declined in a big way. And let's not forget that Parise, Koivu and Suter are now getting injured prone and have some serious injuries. I really do believe a full rebuild is going to be needed for the Wild for them to have a shot. I think they need to shed whatever toxic environment that these two GMs allowed/created which means almost everybody involved during that time is gone. Think about how bad it has to be from behind the seems when older/nearing retirement vets are refusing to come here and we have been known as the retirement home of the NHL for old vets to come and get one last huge payday before walking into the sunset.

[JR Ewing]

On 8/4/2019 at 11:48 AM, IllaZilla said:

 Chiarelli's a one-man clown show,

 

Word.

 

On 8/4/2019 at 11:48 AM, IllaZilla said:

and Hextall sounds like micromanager (which was what Fenton was).

 

Hextall would almost surely try to be patient and develop through the draft. Not sure of what Leipold would think of that.

 

On 8/4/2019 at 11:48 AM, IllaZilla said:

Maybe Lombardi, but I don't think Leipold wants a slow, lumbering, defense first team. I haven't heard if the Wild have talked to Waddell, or if he may be using the Wild situation as leverage for a new contract with the 'Canes...

 

Two things would concern me if I were a Minnesota fan, and Lombardi is being interviewed:

a) He continued to go bigger and slower when the NHL was clearly going smaller, faster and skilled.

b) He showed an inability to identify his core and pay only that core, which left him paying several good (but complimentary) players too much money at too old of an age.

 

On 8/4/2019 at 11:48 AM, IllaZilla said:

But hopefully they do a little more due diligence than they did last time and actually make some phone calls and talk to people about their candidates rather than just go with Leipold's man crush...

 

It kind of shocks me, every time I find out, how little some teams actually do the background work. After Peter Chiarelli was fired, Oilers Chairman Bob Nicholson admitted that there hadn't been a due dilligence period when it came to ChiaPete's hiring. They pretty much just said "Oh wow. Peter's available. He won a Cup with the Bruins, don't you know?" and then offered him a job.

 

Mind you, this is the same group that hired Steve Smith as an assistant coach after bumping into him at an airport.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

2 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

 

 

Mind you, this is the same group that hired Steve Smith as an assistant coach after bumping into him at an airport.

 

In that case, Fenton might not even have to go to unemployment line..... just hang out at an airport of a city with an NHL franchise....may get randomly hired with no background or work history check! 

[JR Ewing]

1 minute ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

In that case, Fenton might not even have to go to unemployment line..... just hang out at an airport of a city with an NHL franchise....may get randomly hired with no background or work history check! 

 

Whenever the Oilers make the news for something stupid, like hiring somebody without interviewing, flying to the wrong country to scout a player, or allowing their Head of Scouting to live in Mexico, you can actually hear the sound of my blood pressure spiking. If there's anything approaching that level of dysfunction with the Wild, I pity the fans.

 

[IllaZilla]

14 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Hextall would almost surely try to be patient and develop through the draft. Not sure of what Leipold would think of that.

 

I personally wouldn't mind this, but the owner is in a "win now" mode.

 

That's why he came out right after he fired Fletcher and stated that he felt the team didn't need a rebuild, but just a few "tweaks". And shortly after the Niederreitter/Coyle/Granlund trades, he made a video for the season ticket holders emphatically telling them that the Wild were NOT in rebuild mode...

 

So I don't think Hextall's "Just be patient" mantra will work on Leipold...