Minnesota Wild General Manager Search: Chuck Fletcher

Chuck Fletcher, 41, has 15 years of NHL management with Pittsburgh, Florida and Anaheim – serving as Assistant General Manager, Director of Hockey Operations and Interim General Manager during that time.  He has been heavily involved in player development and scouting while also handling contract negotiations, day-to-day hockey operations and other administrative duties.

Most recently with the Penguins, Fletcher handled all hockey-related matters, including scouting, overseeing the development of young prospects and contract negotiations.  He is also involved with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.

Fletcher joined the Anaheim Ducks as Director of Hockey Operations in 2002 and was named Assistant General Manager, Hockey Operations in 2004.  Under Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Burke, Fletcher oversaw amateur scouting operations and the evaluation of Anaheim’s prospects, in addition to coordinating training camps and conditioning camps.

Fletcher has three times been with clubs that appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals, in 1996 with Florida, 2003 with Anaheim and 2008 with the Penguins.

Much like Chicago's Bowman, Fletcher plays an active role in the rebuilding of a franchise, taking them from outsiders to Stanley Cup contenders and Eastern conference favorites. Players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury and Ruslan Fedotenko were signed or re-signed under Fletcher. He was integral in the drafting of Jordan Staal, Bobby Ryan and developing a great AHL franchise in Wilkes-Barre.

Now, the best way to evaluate an assistant general manager is to ask the general manager for whom he serves:

From Pittsburgh sources, Craig Leipold has not asked for permission to speak with assistant GM Chuck Fletcher yet, but GM Ray Shero is expecting a call and would not only give permission, he’d advocate strongly on Fletcher’s behalf. “Quite frankly, it’s crazy that Chuck’s not a GM in this league already,” the source said. Actually, he’s been an interim GM a couple times. - Russo

Wow. Now we're saying that this guys has been involved in three Stanley Cup finals, manages to sign more than one offensive talent at a time, has a decent draft record and develops players in the minors? I like this choice too!