Wild owner Craig Leipold, in both firing Chuck Fletcher last month and in introducing new General Manager Paul Fenton on Tuesday, made it clear that he is not interest in a wholesale rebuild.
Instead, Leipold and Fenton unleashed a new phrase on the sporting public at Tuesday's news conference: Tweak the Process.
In his introductory remarks, Fenton used those key words, saying: "I've been brought here to tweak this process," adding that the goal of those tweaks is to win a Stanley Cup and not just advance to the second round — as the NBA's "Trust the Process" 76ers did this year and the Wild did twice during its six consecutive playoff appearances.
Leipold reinforced that with this: "This is not a rebuild, this is a tweak."
What tweaks, exactly? Fenton wouldn't say, but Leipold must have been impressed. "I've told Craig the possibilities of different tweaks we can make," he said.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
