The Minnesota Wild will reportedly hire longtime Nashville Predators executive Paul Fenton as general manager. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the team was preparing to make the announcement.
Deal’s not done yet, but #mnwild appear to be closing in on #nhlpreds assistant GM Paul Fenton as their next GMhttps://t.co/dN6i7GYsuM
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 21, 2018
Minnesota Wild to Hire Paul Fenton
Fenton has been an executive with the Predators for 20 years. He has served as assistant general mangers for 12 years and general manger for the Milwaukee Admirals. Milwaukee is Nashville’s AHL affiliate.
He played for parts of 11 seasons in the NHL as a left winger. The Springfield, Mass. native tallied 100 goals and dished out 83 assists in 411 career games. He played college hockey for Boston University and was a standout in the IHL before making the Whalers.
Fenton played for the Hartford Whalers, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks.
He replaces Chuck Fletcher as Minnesota’s general manager, who did not have his contract renewed at the end of the season. Fletcher was the Wild’s general manager since 2009.
Negotiations have been underway since Saturday night, but a deal had not been finalized. There is no timetable on a formal announcement.
What This Means for the Team’s Future
Fenton has experience in running a hockey club in leading the Admirals. Milwaukee has provided plenty of players to help Nashville’s recent rise. He had a hand in finding the right players to make the Ads a solid team.
Fenton has served under respected general manager David Poile and likely learned things from him. Poile has turned Nashville into one of the better team’s and Minnesota owner Craig Leipold is hoping some of that rubs off on his team. Hopefully, Fenton learned how to make deals like Poile has.
The Wild made the playoffs this season, but the Jets eliminated them in the first round. Minnesota knows upgrades will be if it wants to keep up in the loaded Central Division. However, they have someone eager to succeed and has a fresh outlook.
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