Minnesota Wild fire general manager Paul Fenton after one season
After just one season of leading their front office, the Minnesota Wild have fired Paul Fenton as their general manager.
Ever since the Minnesota Wild fired former general manager Chuck Fletcher, they’ve made some fairly questionable moves. The man responsible? General Manager Paul Fenton. Or, shall I say, former Wild general manager Paul Fenton. According to The Athletic, they have fired their general manager after just one season on the job.
The Wild are doing this just 14 months after hiring Fenton to replace Fletcher. This is a baffling move because it comes so late in the summer. Why would the Wild trust Fenton to run their draft and sign Mats Zuccarello to a long-term deal if they didn’t fully trust him?
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Fenton’s tenure with the Wild is one of the shortest in NHL history for a full-time general manager. Sure, some interim general managers saw shorter tenures. The shortest tenure of the salary cap era belongs to Neil Smith, who was hired by the Islanders in June of 2006 and fired a month later for Garth Snow.
To be fair, Fenton’s tenure with the Wild left a lot to be desired. Minnesota missed the postseason, which certainly didn’t help his case. Also, the Nino Niederreiter trade was abysmal, as all they have to show for him is Victor Rask. Signing Zuccarello was a controversial move, especially for a team that spent the trade deadline as sellers shipping out oulder players for younger ones.
According to The Athletic, there were some problems brewing in Minnesota. There were unhappy employees in the organization. Fenton was not fitting into the culture for the Wild and it was becoming more obvious by the day. Owner Craig Leipold apparently had enough of those issues. Also, there was reportedly a bit of friction between star forward Zach Parise and Fenton.
Until the Wild find a new general manager, it sounds like assistant GM Tom Kurvers will act as the general manager. It will be interesting to see what direction Minnesota goes in. Fenton was a long-time assistant general manager for the Nashville Predators, so it’s not like he wasn’t experienced in the front office.
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However, Fenton was a first-time general manager. So it wouldn’t be shocking if the Wild decided to go with someone who’s been there. Ron Hextall, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers, would make a ton of sense. But if the Wild are interested in less experienced options, it’s hard to imagine Bill Zito, who reportedly got an interview for the GM job last year, won’t get seriously considered.