Paul Fenton Fired by the Wild Amid Reports of Creating a Bad Culture Across the Entire Franchise

Wow, the Minnesota Wild and Owner, Craig Leipold, has just sent shockwaves through Minnesota and the NHL community by firing Paul Fenton before his second season has even gotten started. Michael Russo broke the story just minutes ago:

BREAKING: @TheAthleticMIN has learned that Paul Fenton has been fired as #mnwild GM after just one season. EXCLUSIVE STORY>>>https://t.co/ycC8kmYfkx

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) July 30, 2019

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There are a lot of tentacles to this story but it is playing out as a Tom Thibodeau type of situation where Fenton is being blamed for literally pulling down the entire culture of a franchise.

We all know about the questionable trades that he made but there are also a bunch of whispers about him not seeing eye to eye with Bruce Boudreau and even forcing him to give certain guys more playing time. According to Russo, Leipold felt like Fenton was dragging down the entire culture he has built since buying the Wild. This is a clip out of Russo’s breaking article:

Beyond that, sources said there were numerous accounts of unhappy employees throughout the organization and countless other turbulent incidents that made their way into Leipold’s office. Sources said for weeks that it was becoming abundantly clear to Leipold that Fenton was not fitting into the culture that he and CEO Matt Majka had worked to create since Leipold purchased the team in 2008.

This is just crazy. But, he does have a point. The Wild had season tickets to sell for the first time in a long time, for the 2020 season. Parise is talking about being ok with a trade out of Minnesota because he wants to win a Stanley Cup… and let’s be honest, Paul Fenton seemed like an asshole whenever he was in front of a microphone. This kind of attitude just isn’t going to get you anywhere in today’s world…

The new GM search will start immediately and Russo already has some ideas if you are ready to dive into that Athletic Subscription yet..

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan