Former Wild and Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher joins NHL front office with a new team

This just in, the New Jersey Devils have hired Chuck Fletcher as a senior advisor to GM Tom Fitzgerald, former NHL defenseman Andy Greene as an advisor and former NHL goaltender Manny Legace as amateur goaltending scout/coach.

Check it out:

The reaction online from Devils fans have been decidedly mixed.

On the one hand, Devils fans seem pretty excited to have fan favorite Greene on the team's management team. The 41 year old played 13 seasons with the Devils from 2006 until 2020, ultimately ending his career in 2022 after a couple seasons with the New York Islanders. In total he put up 52 goals and 264 points in 1057 career NHL games. He was a warrior for the Devils and always gave his all every game. Excellent hire.

Ditto for Legace who is also an excellent hire. After a stellar career as a bit of a journeyman, backup goalie, Legace transitioned into coaching in 2012. He was most recently employed as a goaltending coach by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but was relieved of his duties last offseason. He's a well respected mind in the goaltending community and should serve the Devils well in his new role.

And then there's Fletcher...

Where to start? There's just so much baggage with this guy.

The son of revered former NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, Chuck has been heavily scrutinized for his work as a general manager. He was GM of the Wild for nearly a decade from 2009 until 2018, a decade marred by mediocrity and inconsistency. He then followed that up with another mediocre run as GM of the Flyers from 2018 until 2023. He's largely to blame for the mess that new GM Daniel Briere is having to clean up in Philly. 

In Philly Fletcher handed out terrible contracts to the likes of Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sean Couturier, Joel Farabee and Anthony DeAngelo. 

Suffice it to say that Fletcher does not have many fans in Minny or Philly these days...

Here's hoping that he has better success helping get the Devils back to The Promised Land.