NBC Sports’ James O’Brien wonders if Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher could be feeling the heat this season if the Wild don’t get over the hump and see more playoff success. Fletcher has a five season playoff streak to his name, but a long list of playoff frustrations go along with that streak. O’Brien writes that the Bruce Boudreau edition of the Wild “pushed for something bigger” but ultimately fell short. Indeed, the Wild still led the Central Division up until March, when they sputtered and yielded the division crown to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former coach Mike Yeo led the Wild to two consecutive second round appearances but both resulted in losses to the Blackhawks. Fletcher won the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter sweepstakes during the summer of 2012, but the team hasn’t cashed in on a Stanley Cup, or at the least, a conference final appearance. Under Boudreau, their scoring and performance increased but it still resulted in a disappointing five game, first round exit to the St. Louis Blues.
O’Brien bets that if there’s ever a time that the heat is turned up on Fletcher, it’s this season. Returning a similar but slightly weaker team in 2017-18, the Wild are expected again to be in the playoffs. But another lackluster playoff showing–or worse–and the Wild might be looking for their third general manager in team history.
- So where did it all go wrong for the Colorado Avalanche and their working relationship with Will Butcher? The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers answered this question and a whole host of Avs-related inquiries this afternoon. Chamber says that between the team not wanting to sign him while Patrick Roy was still on board to the Avs’ notoriously bad 2016-17 season, no one can blame Butcher for looking elsewhere. Chambers also predicts that the Avs will see a lot of empty seats this season due to an ineffective offseason and that it may be a long, painful process before the Avalanche return to respectability.