The Seattle Kraken have added another familiar NHL front office name to their hockey operations mix, bringing in Chuck Fletcher as senior advisor to the general manager.
Fletcher arrives after serving as a senior advisor for the New Jersey Devils. He left that job during the organization’s leadership change, when former GM Tom Fitzgerald was replaced by Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta as the team’s new leader of hockey operations.
For Seattle, the move fits a front office that is clearly leaning on experience as it moves into a new phase after the departure of its first general manager, Ron Francis. Jason Botterill is now running the hockey side, and he’s in his second stint as an NHL GM after previously holding the job in Buffalo from 2017-18 through 2019-20. Botterill has already brought in another veteran executive, former Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, and Fletcher gives him yet another former GM to draw from.
Fletcher’s résumé is long. He was the lead hockey executive in Minnesota from 2009-10 to 2017-18, then held that role in Philadelphia from 2018-19 through most of 2022-23. With the Kraken going through a difficult stretch, Seattle is banking on that kind of background to bolster its decision-making.
There was more front office movement around the league on the Devils’ side as well. New Jersey announced the hire of Jessica Campbell, who will work in hockey operations as Manager, Player Development. Campbell had been an assistant coach in Seattle, and she made history there as the first woman in NHL history to serve as a full-time assistant coach.
Campbell also brings a player development track record. She began her pro coaching career in Germany’s DEL with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers, working as an assistant coach and skills coach, then spent two seasons in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. During that stretch, she helped guide several young players toward the NHL, including Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton Ryker Evans, and Tye Kartye.
New Jersey also added Bryan McCabe, who will hold the title of Vice President, Prospect Personnel/Assistant General Manager, Utica Comets. McCabe played more than 1,100 NHL games and captained two different franchises. After his playing career ended in 2010-11, he moved into Florida’s hockey operations department, starting as a development coach in 2012-13 before rising to director of player development.
McCabe later served as director of player personnel and overlapped with Mehta in Florida for five years.
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