Report: Wild hires Fletcher to be GM

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 21 (UPI) -- Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant General Manager Chuck Fletcher will assume the GM post with the Minnesota Wild, NHL sources told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

A news conference to announce Fletcher's hiring will be held Friday morning.

He will succeed Doug Risebrough, who was fired by the Wild April 16.

Fletcher, 41, the son of longtime NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, also has worked in the front offices of Florida and Anaheim, and will bring 16 years of NHL experiences to his new job.

He helped the Panthers select John Vanbiesbrouck, Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland and Tom Fitzgerald in the 1993 expansion draft.

Those core players led Florida's 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

"It's his time to be a GM," Ottawa General Manager Bryan Murray told the newspaper this month.

The Wild did not renew Risebrough's contract after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

The Wild also are in the market for a new coach since Jacques Lemaire resigned just prior to Risebrough's departure.