After working a quarter-century in the NHL
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The new general manager of the Minnesota Wild has been tasked with retooling a roster that has produced a consistent regular season winner but, more
importantly, scant success in the playoffs.
”I’m confident we have a very good team in Minnesota and believe Paul shares that same belief. The goal remains to bring a Stanley Cup to the state of
hockey,” owner Craig Leipold said. ”No pressure, Paul, but that is where it
starts.”
The 58-year-old Fenton was introduced on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild have reached the postseason six straight times to match the longest
streak in the Western Conference with the Anaheim Ducks. The problem is they’ve
won only two series during that run, both in the first round. That’s why Leipold
dismissed Chuck Fletcher after nine seasons and, after a month of interviewing
and considering candidates
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”As we went through the process, we kept hearing good things about our team,” Leipold said. ”We kept feeling better and better, and it really reinforced what
we thought. This is not a rebuild. It’s a tweaking.”
Existing contracts essentially make a teardown impossible. Center Mikko Koivu, left wing Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter accounted for almost 30
percent of the Wild’s salary cap in 2017-18. Koivu’s two-year extension kicks in
this summer. Parise and Suter are signed for seven more seasons. All three
players attended the news conference, as did coach Bruce Boudreau and several
holdover hockey operations staffers.
”It obviously doesn’t need to be overhauled,” Fenton said. ”We have a lot of really good veteran pieces, young guys that are coming, and I’m just looking
forward to trying to put on some finishing touches to help us win.”
Even without no-trade clauses, the Koivu-Parise-Suter core would be difficult to move with their current deals. There are plenty of other valuable players
that Fenton could use as assets in trades
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During his 12-year tenure as assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators, Fenton teamed with general manager David Poile to pull off several
bold moves. They shipped Shea Weber to the Montreal Canadiens for P.K. Subban in
a swap of standout defensemen two summers ago after sending defenseman Seth
Jones to the Columbus Blue Jackets for center Ryan Johansen about six months
earlier, deals that set the stage for the Predators to reach the Stanley Cup
finals in 2017. They had the best record in the league in the 2017-18 regular
season.
Fenton declined to make any evaluations or proclamations about the Wild during his session with reporters, but he did give a definitive answer to a
question about whether he’d keep the aggressive approach to trading.
”I like to think outside the box,” he said, later adding: ”I’ll look at small trades. I’ll look at big trades. Whatever is going to improve this organization
going forward to give us a chance to win the Stanley Cup, we’re going to
look.”
As for feeling limited by the Koivu-Parise-Suter contract situation he inherited, well, if he was daunted by it he wouldn’t have been hired.
”Everybody has the same problem
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Fenton was accompanied by his wife, Nona, who was once his high school sweetheart in Massachusetts, and his two adult sons, P.J. and Owen, and
daughter-in-law Stefanie. There’s a granddaughter in the family as well.
Suter was a familiar face to Fenton in the crowd, too. The Predators drafted him in the first round in 2003 while Fenton was director of player personnel.
Leipold owned the Predators then, too.
”We have mutual friends that say good things about each other, so I don’t think it’s going to be a difficult transition at all,” said Boudreau
Josh Allen Jersey , who will enter his third season with the Wild. ”We’re hockey guys, and when we’re getting together we’re going to be talking
hockey all the time. That’s what we love to do. He spent a lot of years looking
at the minors. I’ve been a lot of years in the minors. I think it should end up
being a really good relationship.”
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There has been another coaching shake-up with the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers have parted ways with special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, said a person familiar with the situation. The team has promoted
Chase Blackburn to take McGaughey’s place after his contract was not
renewed.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the news.
The Charlotte Observer was first to report the news.
McGaughey is the second coordinator to leave since the end of the season.
Carolina abruptly fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula two days after the season and replaced him with Norv Turner despite a season in which they finished
11-5 and made the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.
Quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey was also fired.
Blackburn has served as the team’s assistant special teams coordinator under McGaughey for the past two seasons. The 34-year-old Blackburn played nine
seasons in the NFL, finishing his career with the Panthers in 2014.
McGaughey could draw interest from the New York Giants, where former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman is now in charge.
The Cleveland Browns are also looking for a special teams coordinator.
The Panthers are coming off a successful season on special teams. They returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown this season, kicker Graham Gano is
headed to the Pro Bowl as an alternate after missing just one field goal during
the regular season and punter Michael Palardy ranked fifth in the league with a
net average of 42.4 yards.
Carolina’s kickoff coverage unit only had to cover 12 kickoffs all season because Gano led the league in touchbacks.
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