Execs sing praises of Wild's new GM

After a far-and-wide search for a general manager to guide the Wild into a new era, owner Craig Leipold landed on a bright, young hockey mind who has been preparing for this job from the day he was born 41 years ago.

Being the son of longtime NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, Chuck Fletcher was given the rare fortune of a front-row seat while observing his dad run the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs of yesteryear.

Then, from the moment he graduated from Harvard, he was entrenched in hockey.

After 16 years as a right-hand man inside three organizations, Chuck Fletcher finally has received the opportunity to run a team for himself.

Multiple league sources tell the Star Tribune that Fletcher, assistant GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been hired as the Wild's second GM, replacing Doug Risebrough.

Coincidently, Fletcher grew up around Risebrough when he captained and later was assistant coach and assistant GM for his father's Flames.

A news conference to introduce Fletcher is scheduled for 4 p.m. today.

"I'm absolutely convinced he's the right guy for that job," Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, who had Fletcher as his assistant GM in Anaheim, said during a telephone interview. "I don't mean to imply there weren't other worthy candidates, but he's ready for this.

"He's worked with teams who have played in the Stanley Cup Finals three different times [Florida, Anaheim and Pittsburgh]. He missed a Cup by a year with us in Anaheim, and his paws were all over that team. He's a good judge of talent. He's done all the components of the GM job. He's negotiated player contracts, he's looked after farm systems, he's worked on amateur and professional scouting. He's basically done every job in the portfolio of being a GM."

Leipold declined to comment, as did Fletcher, who will be leaving his job with the Penguins.

Learning on the job

Fletcher originally was hired by Bobby Clarke to be the expansion Florida Panthers' assistant GM in 1993. He was 25 and couldn't wait for the excitement the job entailed.

His first task once he got to South Florida? Buying a washer and dryer for the practice facility in Pompano Beach.

Fletcher has come a long way since. He spent nine years in Florida, playing a huge part in the expansion draft that landed such players as John Vanbiesbrouck, Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland, Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Lindsay -- core pieces to the Panthers' 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

While it's a team effort, Fletcher has played a role in key drafts that landed Ed Jovanovski, Rob Niedermayer, Rhett Warrener and Kristian Huselius in Florida, and Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan in Anaheim.

He has worked alongside some of the NHL's top executives -- Clarke, Burke, Bill Torrey, Bryan Murray and Ray Shero.

"It's his time to be a GM," Murray, now Ottawa's GM, told the Star Tribune earlier this month. "He's an intelligent guy -- I used to say young guy, but he's getting up there now. The most important thing to being a GM is your people skills, and he's real classy in that regard and has earned the respect of the players because of his treatment of them."

Key decisions await

Fletcher will have two critical chores on his plate immediately -- hiring a coach and trying to re-sign Marian Gaborik with free agency fast approaching July 1.

Fletcher loves up-tempo, fast, physical hockey, and it's likely after seeing the job Dan Bylsma has done in Pittsburgh that he'll target a young, up-and-coming coach.

One immediate front-runner might be San Jose Sharks assistant Todd Richards, the former Gophers star. Richards is considered an up-and-comer and initially was hired by Fletcher to coach Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League.

As for Gaborik, it still will be very difficult to convince the star to stay, especially when he's this close to free agency. Plus, it'll be awfully difficult for the Wild to offer Gaborik a long-term deal, certainly not the 10-year, $78.5 million deal it offered him last fall.

It appears from the very early going that Leipold wanted Fletcher. The team interviewed assistant GM Tom Lynn, TSN and NBC analyst Pierre McGuire, longtime NHL executive and coach Pat Quinn, Anaheim assistant GM Dave McNab and Nashville executives Paul Fenton and Mike Santos.

Lynn declined to comment, but he's long had great respect for Fletcher, so it's believed he wants to continue in his role and work for Fletcher if the new GM is willing to retain him.

Ringing endorsement

"Wild fans will love Chuck," said Burke, who grew up in Edina and met Fletcher in 1989 when he was a summer intern for the Vancouver Canucks when Burke was assistant GM there. "He's a Minnesota type of person. Great talker, wants things done right, is a man of character and thinks people are entitled to explanations.

"I'm a Minnesota boy. I've got all those traits. We think people who ask for explanations are entitled to them, so I guarantee Chuck will be straight with the fans."