Wild fire Fletcher as general manager

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild fired Chuck Fletcher as executive vice president and general manager on Monday.
Owner Craig Leipold told Fletcher his contract would not be renewed and said a search for a replacement will begin immediately. Brent Flahr, the Wild's senior vice president of hockey operations, will be the acting GM.

The Wild were eliminated by the Winnipeg Jets in five games in the Western Conference First Round following a third-place finish in the Central Division (45-26-11, 101 points).
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"I respect Chuck tremendously," Leipold said. "In our new practice facility, we have a motto that is the first thing you see: 'Good is not good enough.' I felt that was a sign ... my feeling is the last couple years we have not been good enough.
"I know that we're not good enough right now. What I want is a new set of eyes and take a look at where our strengths and our weaknesses are."
Leipold stated Fletcher's firing was not a direct result of the loss to the Jets, rather a reflection of Minnesota's poor history in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Fletcher, 50, became the second GM in Wild history when he was hired May 21, 2009, replacing Doug Risebrough. He is the son of longtime NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Minnesota has qualified for the playoffs each of the past six seasons but has won two postseason series and lost three straight first-round series. The Wild are 4-16 in their past 20 playoff games.
"When you fight to get into the playoffs, everybody from media on just talks about getting in the playoffs and how tough that is. And when you get there, it's all about winning," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's not easy to win. I'm not taking the [playoff] loss [to the Jets] lightly by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes for a long summer every year.
"After about a week you want to get back at it and make your team better and correct the things that you did wrong and hopefully have some success the next year."
Leipold said Boudreau, who was hired by Fletcher to replace Mike Yeo as coach on May 7, 2016, will be consulted but will not be a part of the interview process. He also added, "I'd say our coaching staff right now is not going anywhere."
Players pointed to a lack of scoring as the Wild's downfall against the Jets. Minnesota was outshot 169-126 in the series and was shut out the final two games.
The Wild won 6-2 in Game 3 but scored a total of three goals in the other four games.
"That's two playoffs in a row now where we haven't really scored," forward Zach Parise said, referring to their first-round loss to the St. Louis Blues last April, when the Wild scored eight goals in five games. "If you look at the teams moving on, the teams that are winning, they're scoring, they're playing at a pretty fast pace. We've got to get to that level. We've got to figure out a way to score in the playoffs."

Parise led the Wild in the playoffs with three goals but fractured his sternum in Game 3 and missed the remainder of the series. Minnesota played the entire series without top defenseman Ryan Suter, who broke his right ankle March 31 against the Dallas Stars.
Forwards Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter were without a point against Winnipeg. Zucker can become a restricted free agent July 1, and Coyle's contract expires after the 2019-20 season. Niederreiter signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract July 31, 2017.
Leipold stressed that the Wild will be making tweaks, not rebuilding. He said he plans to be direct with candidates about that.
As for Boudreau, his wish list for a general manager is simple:
"Somebody who wants to win the Stanley Cup," Boudreau said. "I'm sure [Fletcher] wanted to win the Stanley Cup too, but I think it's a new set of eyes, maybe a different philosophy, I don't know. But for me, it's just anybody that wants to win the Stanley cup. That's my only goal, so I hope it's their goal."