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(Ed. Note: It’s the NHL Alternate History project! We’ve asked fans and bloggers from 31 teams to pick one turning point in their franchise’s history and ask ‘what if things had gone differently?’ Trades, hirings, firings, wins, losses, injuries … all of it. How would one different outcome change the course of history for an NHL team? Today: Podcasters Giles Ferrell and Ben Remington on the Minnesota Wild. Enjoy!)

By Giles Ferrell and Ben Remington

The Minnesota Wild have had a definitively mediocre history since their inaugural season — without many high points, but also, limited low points.

We set out to contemplate what could have changed the course of history for this team one way or another. Due to the unexciting nature of this franchise, we could only muster a few franchise-altering events.

Recent bias might knee-jerk some into wanting to reverse the Brent Burns trade, which sent the superstar to San Jose, where he would thrive, far from the squandering grip of Mike Yeo. However, Charlie Coyle, while no Brent Burns, is a solid player to have, so the net positive wouldn’t exactly change this team forever. Being able to re-sign Marian Gaborik may have had similarly slim positive results, given the fact that he’s actually a Faberge egg that learned how to shoot a hockey puck.

However, there was something a few years back. The Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to matching 13-year, $98-million contracts that will definitely never be regrettable and will undoubtedly bring a Stanley Cup to St. Paul … if only Mikko Koivu made less money. The Parise and Suter contracts shifted the Wild franchise from an inevitable rebuild to a perennial playoff team, albeit one that can’t overcome seemingly any other team in the Central Division that doesn’t rhyme with ‘The Hottest Golden Girl was Blanche’.

But we’re not going to change the Parise and Suter signings … well, at least not exactly. Besides, Ben already wrote an article about that.

We’re going back to the hiring of Chuck Fletcher. The much-ostracized and in some cases, outwardly hated Chuck Fletcher. Famous for his pedigree and penchant for No Movement Clauses, the Chuck Fletcher hiring undoubtedly has shaped the Wild franchise, for better or for worse, over the past 8 seasons. While the Wild have made the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, their lack of success in those playoffs have put Fletcher a bit on the hot seat, as his team made the otherwise average Jake Allen look like the second coming of Georges Vezina this past spring.

Instead of hiring Chuck Fletcher, we’re going to hire the man who just missed out on the job.

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