The ugly, shocking details of Fenton’s firing in Minnesota

In case you missed the news earlier this week, the Minnesota Wild fired general manager Paul Fenton after just 14 months on the job.

Check it out:

Wild owner Craig Leipold met with the media on Wednesday to discuss Fenton’s firing and spent a great deal of time talking about how Fenton was “not a good fit” for the Wild organization. It was an interesting choice of words that piqued the interest of most Wild fans. So, what exactly did Leipold mean? 

In his latest column for The Athletic, Wild insider Michael Russo does an incredibly in depth analysis of Fenton’s firing and, quite frankly, it’s full of so many jaw-dropping allegations that it has to be read to be believed. 

Do yourself a favour and read the full article here:

Or read below for some choice quotes.

On Fenton's decision to name his son as the Wild's head of scouting, a move that didn't jive with owner Craig Leipold:

One of the notable additions to the staff was Fenton’s son, P.J., who was hired last summer to scout. With Flahr’s departure, P.J. Fenton was elevated to run the amateur scouting department. The optics of putting his son into such a key job created a lot of turmoil amongst the scouts and front office.

Still, Paul Fenton was so sensitive to the way Leipold perceived his son, when he found out Leipold was sitting to his right at the draft table on Day 1 in June, sources said, he quickly rearranged the seating chart to move his son two seats to his left and put Yopyk immediately to his left so Leipold didn’t feel P.J. was running the table.

On Fenton's relationship with Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau:

Also, sources say, Fenton, on a handful of occasions both last season and afterward, sought permission to fire Boudreau. Leipold wouldn’t give it. Boudreau, who will now be coaching for his third Wild GM, enters the final year of his four-year contract after Fenton declined to give him a contract extension.

On the awful Nino Niederreiter for Victor Rask trade:

According to Hurricanes sources, the Canes planned to buy out Rask this summer and watched Niederreiter 10 times in the weeks leading up to the trade. There was consensus on their pro side that if Niederreiter got elevated minutes in a top-six role, he’d succeed in Raleigh. However, according to sources, not a single Wild scout was sent to watch Rask in person, and there were already limited viewings because he snipped his finger during a kitchen accident last offseason and missed time.

While Canes sources say they called around the league and spoke to people to learn about Niederreiter, Fenton didn’t even check in with his own resident former Hurricanes captain, Staal. He and Rask played together in Raleigh for two seasons.

On Fenton's... um... lack of work ethic:

Fenton being away during crucial times was a continual theme. After the trade deadline, during a critical part of the season with the Wild struggling and the calendar turning to March, Fenton went to his home in Florida for three weeks. This past offseason, he spent most every day in Florida or Cape Cod, including leaving Minnesota July 2 — the day after free agency began.

On the Mikael Granlund for Kevin Fiala trade:

There were a number of people inside the organization who were worried that over that month leading into the trade deadline Fenton became too singularly focused and “obsessed” with getting Fiala, whom he feels could become a game-breaker. It apparently took some convincing from his staff to keep Fenton from giving up more than Granlund and even retaining salary.

“There was just frustration beyond comprehension,” a source said.

On the aborted Jason Zucker trade:

Then, there was the Zucker cluster-you-know-what. Sources say there was a lot of resistance, even from some of Fenton’s hires, but Fenton came close to trading Zucker to Calgary for a first-round pick and Michael Frolik. Because of an issue on Calgary’s end, the trade fell through at the very last moments before the 2 p.m. deadline. The story got out, and that created a lot of tension between Zucker and Fenton, who initially denied the story to Zucker. More than three months later, Zucker was nearly traded again to Pittsburgh, but Phil Kessel wouldn’t waive his no-trade clause to come to Minnesota.

Again, to read the full article, click the link below: