Central Notes: Wild, Savoie, Moose

In an effort to restructure and strengthen their executive pyramid, the Minnesota Wild announced a series of promotions this morning. The most high-profile promotion will go to Matt Majka, most recently serving as the President and Alternate Governor of the Wild organization, who will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer overseeing all the properties in the Minnesota Sports & Entertainment conglomerate. Such assets include the Wild franchise, the Iowa Wild, Saint Paul Arena Company, and Xcel Energy Center, among others. Majka will still report to Wild Owner Craig Leipold, but will now be tasked with leading the innovative effort to take the franchise into the future.

On the hockey side of operations, current General Manager Bill Guerin will now add on President of Hockey Operations as a title, now being given an executive advisory role with the club, as well as still controlling his team-developmental duties. Leipold gave high praise to Guerin for his performance up to this point, saying, “Four years ago, Bill brought his championship pedigree to our organization and the improvements he’s made to our hockey team and organization are self-evident. The results are both tangible and intangible and he continues to demonstrate his talent for building a Stanley Cup contending team. We are excited about what the future holds for fans in the State of Hockey”.

Lastly, the third and final promotion went to Mitch Helgerson, who had been serving as the organization’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Broadcasting. Going forward, Helgerson will become the new Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing much of the revenue streams coming through the organization.

Other notes:

• Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago reports that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed prospect Samuel Savoie to a three-year, $2.63MM ($878.3K AAV) entry-level contract. Savoie was drafted by the Blackhawks organization with the 81st overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, coming out of the Gatineau Olympiques program of the QMJHL. In his final season with the Olympiques, Savoie expanded greatly on his playmaking abilities, scoring eight more goals and 18 more assists in four fewer games compared to his draft year.
• The AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, the Manitoba Moose, announced two signings today, bringing in Thomas Caron and Mark Liwiski on separate one-year deals. The former captain of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, Caron has seen much of his career crippled by injury, only managing one full season in the last five years. Liwiski, on the other hand, played his first full professional season last year with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, becoming one of the most feared players to line up against, racking up 192 PIMs in 67 games.