The Seattle Kraken have turned to a familiar NHL name, hiring Chuck Fletcher as a senior advisor to general manager Jason Botterill. It’s a move that has already raised eyebrows around the league, especially after Fletcher’s exit from New Jersey this offseason.
Fletcher had spent the last two seasons as a senior advisor with the Devils, and before that he held the same type of role with the club in 2018 before eventually becoming the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers. Around the NHL, his reputation is still shaped by mostly failed stops in Minnesota and Philadelphia, which is why his addition in Seattle is unlikely to draw much celebration.
The Devils’ new regime under Sunny Mehta did not keep Fletcher after Tom Fitzgerald’s departure. Mehta, who came over from the Florida Panthers organization, has moved quickly to reshape hockey operations in New Jersey.
Dan MacKinnon was let go as assistant general manager and later replaced by Braden Birch, another Panthers executive. Birch spent more than a decade in Florida and worked closely with Mehta during the Panthers’ run to back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Fletcher’s arrival in Seattle also adds another layer of familiarity. Botterill and Fletcher previously worked together in Pittsburgh, and Fletcher also crossed paths with Fitzgerald there. The article notes that Botterill is another general manager under pressure, which makes Fletcher’s new role look like a possible path back toward another big opportunity down the line.
That’s part of what makes the hire stand out: Fletcher is one of those old general managers who keeps getting another chance. He didn’t land a new job this offseason so much as return to the same kind of job he had in New Jersey, just on the West Coast. MacKinnon, meanwhile, ended up with a similar position in Minnesota under Bill Guerin.
There’s also a Devils connection that still lingers with Fletcher. He was Minnesota’s GM when the Wild signed Zach Parise in the summer of 2012.
But even with all those ties, the larger takeaway remains the same: Fletcher is a name that tends to bring criticism more than praise. And after Seattle struck out with Jason Robertson, Matthew Knies, and a litany of other star players, bringing in Fletcher gives the Kraken another front-office move that will be viewed with skepticism.
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