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Paul Fenton

Tyler Ennis, Steve Mason Officially Bought Out

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The Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens have taken some money off the books, announcing the buyouts for Tyler Ennis and Steve Mason respectively. Both players now become unrestricted free agents and can sign with any club.

In Ennis, the Wild free up $2.2MM from their salary cap for this year. Ennis was in the last year of his deal in which he was going to receive $4.6MM. Acquired from Buffalo last offseason, Ennis got in almost a full season, but failed to put up impressive numbers as he finished the year with eight goals and 22 points. With new GM Paul Fenton in charge, he didn’t waste too much time determining that Ennis’ deal wasn’t worth Ennis’ inability to put up points.

As for Mason, the Canadiens picked him up Sunday in a trade in which they acquired Mason, Joel Armia and two draft picks for AHL prospect Simon Bourque. Mason also one year on his deal at $4.1MM, but with Antti Niemi and Charlie Lindgren along with talent in their system, Mason was expendable. The team will take a cap hit of $1.367 over the next two years.

 

 

Tom Kurvers Named Minnesota Wild Assistant GM

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The Minnesota Wild have brought in another familiar name to join Paul Fenton in the front office, as they announced the hiring of Tom Kurvers as an Assistant General Manager. Kurvers had been working with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the past decade, prior to which he was with the then Phoenix Coyotes organization.

Kurvers, 55, suited up for 659 regular season games in the NHL during an 11-year playing career, and was famously involved in a trade that netted the New Jersey Devils a pick that ended up being Scott Niedermayer. Kurvers would play just 89 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs who gave up the pick, before moving on to play for three more teams before the end of his career. In all, Kurvers would win a Stanley Cup, a Hobey Baker Award and even a Japan Ice Hockey League championship at the very end of his career. He’s familiar with winning, and will try to bring that knowledge back to the Wild.

Minnesota is a team to watch this summer as they try to fix a roster that has been good for quite a while, but never able to really compete in the Western Conference playoffs. Key members of their core are starting to hit the back portion of their careers, and they’ve lost plenty of young talent in recent years. Fenton will bring his well-regarded scouting and development ability and lean on Kurvers to help him turn things around, or at least get them over the hump to really contend for a Stanley Cup championship.

Minnesota Notes: Free Agent Targets, No-Trade Lists, Rau, Mittelstadt

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In a loaded article for The Athletic today, Michael Russo addresses the Minnesota Wild’s plans for the off-season with new GM Paul Fenton through his first draft and ready for free agency. While Russo speculates that the Wild could look more toward the trade market than the UFA market this summer, he does name a few player who he feels the team has interest in and are likely to be good fits. Among those named are top-six scorers – and two of the biggest names on the market – James Neal and David Perron of the Vegas Golden Knights, as well as two-way contributors Michael Grabner and Jay Beagle. Russo also adds that the team is likely to take a look at upgrading the backup goalie position. Perhaps the deepest free agent position group this summer is at #2 netminder, where some of the league’s best backups from last season, several veteran former starters, and a few young keepers in need of a change compose a large group of possibilities. The Wild used Alex Stalock as their primary backup in 2017-18 and he performed well enough, but the veteran still has a year left on a two-way contract and the team could easily stash him in the AHL if they can woo a superior option to Minnesota.

  • While the following information could frighten fans of the Wild, particularly given the team’s interest in exploring the trade market, don’t be too alarmed. Russo reports that Fenton has requested updated No-Trade lists from starting goaltender Devan Dubnyk, top-pair defenseman Jared Spurgeon, and top scorer Eric Staal. However, Russo believes that this is just a formality that the new GM wanted to get out of the way. With Minnesota expected to be a playoff team again next season, it is very unlikely that any of these three star players are likely to be traded any time soon.
  • Russo believes that fan-favorite local product Kyle Rau is unlikely to test the free agent market is instead close on a two-year extension with the Wild. There has been no official word on the contract, but Russo believes it is a done deal. A former “Mr. Hockey”-winning Minnesota high school phenom and a star at the University of Minnesota, Rau signed as a free agent with the Wild last summer after two years with the Florida Panthers. Although he only played in three games with Minnesota this season, he was an offensive force with AHL Iowa, posting 50 points in 69 games. The 25-year-old forward would likely draw some interest on the open market, but seems more inclined to re-sign and fight for a roster spot with the Wild
  • Over at Rau’s alma mater, the University of Minnesota, the Gophers hope that they have two more future stars on the way. John and Luke Mittelstadt, the younger brothers of former Gopher and top Buffalo Sabres’ forward prospect Casey Mittelstadt, have announced their commitments to the university. John, 16, is a forward who produced well in his first season at Eden Prairie High School and Luke, 15, is a defenseman who will be a freshman at Eden Prairie in the fall. Like brother Casey, the Mittelstadt’s are undersized and not elite athletes, but make up for it with tremendous skill and hockey sense. They will arrive at Minnesota in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and will join the likes of Blake McLaughlin, Bryce Brodzinski and others on a top program that has been gaining some major commitments over the past few months.

Minnesota Wild Name Jack Ferreira Assistant To The GM

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The Minnesota Wild got their man when they hired Paul Fenton to be their next general manager, and now they’ve hired the man who taught Fenton everything he knows. Jack Ferreira, legendary NHL executive and mentor, has been hired as the Minnesota assistant to the GM. In the press release, Fenton explains his relationship with his new assistant:

He’s certainly one of the people who has influenced my career, not only from when I was a kid playing, but all the advice he’s given me over the years. I learned so much working for him in Anaheim and continuing a relationship as we’ve gone forward in professional hockey. I look forward to having him here as a really good guidance piece.

Ferreira, 73, has worked with teams all across the NHL and has been a big part of developing hockey in the state of California. Most recently he had spent 12 years with the Los Angeles Kings working as a senior advisor that helped in a variety of responsibilities, but left the organization last month. His wealth of knowledge, and championship history—three Stanley Cups and a World Cup gold medal—will be priceless for Fenton to call on as he begins his new role with the Wild. Speaking about his new boss, Ferreira made it clear that he won’t try to impose his will when it comes to decision making:

I told him there’s going to be issues where we don’t agree. But we’re going to be united. He’ll have the final say, and whatever we do, I’m going to back him. We’re not going to see eye-to-eye all the time.

The Wild are trying desperately to overcome their history of early playoff exits, and let long-time GM Chuck Fletcher go earlier this spring. Fenton will try to find a way to push them over the top, and get to the point of real Stanley Cup contention.

Paul Fenton Hired As New GM Of Minnesota Wild

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As had been reported in recent days, the Minnesota Wild have decided who will be their next General Manager. That’s Paul Fenton, who was officially announced as GM and Alternate Governor today with a press release from owner Craig Leipold:

It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Paul Fenton as the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild. Paul is uniquely suited for this job having played 10 years of professional hockey and holding 25 years of management experience in the NHL. His gift of evaluating talent is obvious in Nashville’s roster and recent success. My relationship with Paul goes back to my early days in Nashville and I know that Wild hockey fans are going to love Paul’s infectious passion for the game and unsurpassed work ethic. He’s the right person to deliver a Stanley Cup to the State of Hockey.

It was just one month ago that the Wild relieved Chuck Fletcher of his duties as GM, after the team’s sixth consecutive early exit from the playoffs. Minnesota was knocked out in the first round by the Winnipeg Jets, and are expected to make significant changes to the organization before next season. That starts with Fenton, who will be joining the team after two decades in Nashville where he first worked under Leipold, who owned the Predators from 1998-2008.

Fenton is regarded as an exceptional judge of talent and has been integral in the development and building of the Predators’ Presidents Trophy-winning club. He has been considered for various front office roles around the league seemingly every year, but will now take over an NHL team for the first time. It’s not clear yet who will replace him in Nashville as AGM and GM of the Milwaukee Admirals.

Minnesota has struggled for years with a level of mediocrity that has frustrated Leipold, and the owner even made comments last summer about regretting a certain trade deadline transaction. Obviously not content with just making the playoffs, the Wild will entrust Fenton to take them to the next level and really contend for the Stanley Cup.

How he’s going to do that is far from public knowledge, but in his first offseason he’ll have plenty of opportunity to effect change in the team’s roster construction. Several key players including Jason Zucker and Mathew Dumba are restricted free agents, and could demand big raises and long-term deals coming off career seasons. There are only one or two years remaining on key veteran contracts like Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Eric Staal, Charlie Coyle and Jared Spurgeon. Many of those players might not be back in the coming years, as the team tries to rebuild itself around some different stars.

Unfortunately, Fenton also inherits a team with two albatross contracts on the books. Though Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are still effective players, their contracts—identical 13-year $98MM deals signed in 2012—form a salary base that’s tough to work around. Both players are currently 33 years old, and have seven years remaining at a cap hit of $7.54MM. The deals also include full no-movement clauses, and would cause potential cap recapture penalties if either were to retire early.

If there is a silver lining the deals, front-loaded as they are, were (along with others like them) part of the reason for the last NHL work stoppage. With a salary of just $1MM in the final two seasons, there could be a way that Fenton and the Wild front office get out from under them while providing some help to teams struggling to reach the cap floor. We’re still a long way away from either one needing to be shipped out of town, but the new GM has to know what he’s getting into.

The Wild are a good team already, and they’ve now hired one of the best GM candidates around the league. If Fenton will try to turn them into a contender right away, this summer should be a very interesting on for Minnesota fans.

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