Prior to the team’s fourth straight loss, doled out by the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher asserted that coach Mike Yeo’s job is safe. It was the first time Fletcher had addressed the media in a while.
The team is going through a midseason slump for the third season in a row and Fletcher had to step up, attempting to turn down the heat on Yeo’s seat as calls for someone’s head grow louder and louder from the Wild faithful. Fletcher attempted to put the blame at the feet of the team’s leadership and star players, who have grossly underperformed in 2016.
In addition to having blame laid at their feet, the team’s stars began to get scratched on Saturday. Yeo scratched Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker for Saturday’s game.
They’ve now lost 10 of their last 11 games and have three straight regulation losses, as well as scoring first in three of their last four and blowing the lead.
In Saturday’s comments Fletcher also said that he’s been talking to other GMs daily, but that the players can’t expect a trade to save them this year. “We have picks, we have prospects, we have assets that other teams like, I can tell you that much from the conversations I’ve had,” he said. “I’m not interested in moving young assets for rental players at this point. But again, this group is capable of being a lot better than what we are right now.”
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Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
