Front Office Updates: O’Hearn, Minnesota GM Search, Nill

The Arizona Coyotes are moving on from a top executive. The team announced today that they would not renew the contract for Assistant GM Chris O’Hearn. O’Hearn had been with the Coyotes for eleven years and was in his third year as AGM. O’Hearn handled much of the legal and administrative operations for Arizona, such as contract negotiations, salary arbitration, and cap management. GM John Chayka will now have to find a replacement or delegate those duties to others in the front office.

• Perhaps O’Hearn can throw his hat in the ring for the Minnesota Wild GM job. Owner Craig Leipold is certainly expanding his search, adding two new names to the mix alongside Nashville Predators’ AGM Paul Fenton and Columbus Blue Jackets’ AGM Bill Zito. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Boston Bruins’ AGM John Ferguson Jr. interviewed for the position today, while New Jersey Devils’ AGM Tom Fitzgerald will make his case tomorrow. Ferguson Jr. was previously the GM and Vice President of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the mid-2000’s and has entered the potential-GM market in a big way this week, now connected with both Minnesota and the Carolina Hurricanes’ vacancy. Fitzgerald had already dropped out of the Hurricanes’ hunt, citing “bad timing”, but the timing appears to be right for a potential move to Minneapolis. The Wild now have four legitimate candidates for Leipold to choose from and he may not be done yet.
• Another job search is ongoing in Dallas, as GM Jim Nill has his hands full finding a new head coach. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Nill is considering at least ten different candidates to take over for Ken Hitchcock as the Stars’ new bench boss. That was in response to TSN’s Frank Servalli’s note that University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery is the newest addition to the list. Montgomery has been dominating college hockey over the last five years, leading the Pioneers to a NCAA Tournament berth each year and winning the National Championship last season. Montgomery has been a popular candidate the last couple of years and would be an excellent choice for Dallas.