NHL: Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher emerges as Top Candidate for the Wild’s GM position

The Penguins may be looking for a new assistant general manager this off-season as current Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher went through his second interview with the Minnesota Wild last Thursday and has emerged as the top candidate to replace Doug Risebrough who was fired last month.

Fletcher, 41, has over 16 years of experience in the National Hockey League and is highly regarded around NHL circles. He has played a vital part in the Penguins success over the past two seasons.

With a strong emphasis on moving away from the Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough era of “trap hockey”, Fletcher is intriguing to Wild owner Craig Leopold as he will look to build a team that will play an uptempo-style that the Penguins are currently playing under head coach Dan Bylsma.

The Wild had success under Doug Risebrough but they struggled to keep and lure free agents as talented players had no interest in coming to Minnesota and play in a defensive minded system.

In selecting the organization’s next general manager, Leopold has to pick the candidate who he believes will have the ability to lure top end talent to Minnesota. That was a major issue under Risebrough.

If Fletcher ends up being the selection, what he has to consider is whether this is the right job for him. He is only 41 and will have plenty of other offers as he is regarded as the next up and coming GM.

The Colorado Avalanche are also showing interest and may request an interview very soon.

The Wild are expected to fill their vacant GM position within the next 7-10 days. Fletcher would relieve his duties with the Penguins immediately.

FSN Pittsburgh, the exclusive rights-holder for Pittsburgh Penguins regional telecasts, recorded a 21.38 rating on Sat., May 9, 2009 when the Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-3 in overtime for Round Two Game Five of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It marked the highest rated game ever on FSN Pittsburgh and the highest rated NHL game on any FSN regional sports network.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have the fastest-growing team brand in the National Hockey League and one of the fastest-growing team brands in all of professional sports, according to a Forbes Magazine analysis published this month.

The Forbes analysis values a team’s brand as the “portion of a team’s overall value that is derived from their name, as opposed to their market and league.” The magazine said the value of Penguins’ brand has grown by 88 percent over the past three seasons.

Pascal Dupuis skated on the Penguins 5th line with Eric Godard and Petr Sykora in today’s morning skate, indicating that Dupuis will likely be a healthy scratch for tonight’s game as the Penguins are expected to dress seven defensemen.

Dupuis has been a solid role player for the Penguins in the playoffs but that salary (two more seasons @ 1.4 million per season) just shows how bad of an off-season Ray Shero had last summer. That’s a salary the Penguins would like to move this off-season and that kind of money could be used to go towards Rob Scuderi who will get a significant raise over his current salary of $750,000.

The way this series has gone, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it goes seven, even though the Penguins have the momentum winning three straight and are playing at home tonight. Since I predicted the Penguins to win in 6, I have to stick with my prediction. Penguins 4 – Capitals 3

photo courtesy of danthe4th