Boudreau on next season: 'I think the potential is there'

ST. PAUL -- There isn't much Wild coach Bruce Boudreau hasn't experienced in the hockey world. So when even he speaks of uncharted territory, you know it's rare.
For the first time in his career, Boudreau will be working without a full-time general manager -- at least temporarily -- as the Wild
announced
on Monday that Chuck Fletcher's contract won't be renewed.
Boudreau has been on the other end of that equation many times in his career, including in two previous NHL stops with both Washington and Anaheim. He knows it's never an easy day when such decisions are made.

"I don't know how to feel about it. I mean, Chuck was the guy that hired me. You sort of have loyalties to people, but I've also been on the other end of it and I know it's a business," Boudreau said. "The good news is, I guarantee Chuck will bounce right back and be in this spot very soon. But that being said, it's different until you know who the guy that comes in because you never know what he wants."

Boudreau said his wish list for what he wants in a new boss will be simple, and headlined by just one thing.
"Somebody who wants to win the Stanley Cup," Boudreau said. "I'm sure Chuck wanted to win the Stanley Cup too, but I think it's a new set of eyes, maybe a different philosophy. 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."
Boudreau said he believes the potential is there for a build-up rather than a rebuild.
"It's not a rebuild, I can tell you that. I'm sure there will be some tweaks," Boudreau said. "We were sixth overall two years ago, we were eighth overall this year. We've got an awful lot of good, moving parts there. We'll tweak it a little bit and we'll be better."
The Wild was ravaged by injuries to critical players all season, from Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin and Mikael Granlund.
That has Boudreau believing a bounce-back season could be in order.
Minnesota finished 11th in the NHL in goals scored during the regular season, down from second in the League last season.
But it scored just nine goals in five postseason games, with two-thirds of those coming in a 6-2 win in Game 3. The Wild was shut out in the final two games of the series and was within 45 seconds of being shut out in Game 2 as well.
"I don't think we scored as much as we could have this year," Boudreau said. "I think the potential's there. Zach, if you base things on 82 games, he would have been a potential 30-goal scorer. And Nino should have been a 25-goal guy that he missed that time."
Now a few days removed from the Wild's First-Round loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Boudreau said he's had a chance to reflect a bit on the season as a whole.
"It's hard on everybody. 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," Boudreau said. "It's not easy to win. I'm not taking the loss lightly by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes for a long summer every year and I think I told you guys ... that from September basically till it ends, the players and the coaches, they pretty well dedicate their whole life to that season. So when you lose, it's not fun."

Related:
- Leipold on Fletcher decision: 'This is not a rebuild' - Wild will not renew Fletcher's contract - 'Good isn't good enough' for players moving forward