Wild shuffle front office with three new assistant general managers
The Wild promoted Mat Sells, Michael Murray and Chris Kelleher to assistant general managers on Wednesday, and named Matt Hendricks GM of the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild.
The four will report to Bill Guerin, president of hockey operations and general manager.
Sells was the team's vice president of hockey strategy for the past three seasons after two seasons as director of hockey analytics. He will work with salary cap management, contract negotiations, analytics and CBA compliance.
Murray had been director of hockey operations and GM of the Iowa Wild. He'll oversee scheduling and transactions and work on contracts, along with assisting with day-to-day operations of the NHL and minor league teams.
Kelleher is in his 18th season with the Wild, and had been director of player personnel. He will be in charge of scouting. Hendricks, a former NHL player, is responsible for the day-to-day operations in Iowa.
Assistant GM Chris O'Hearn and director of team operations Andrew Heydt both left the Wild during the past season.
Firstov waived
The Wild put 2019 second-round pick Vladislav Firstov on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract.
Firstov played in the Kontinental Hockey League the past two seasons; he had two goals in Iowa in 10 games near the end of last season.
A native of Russia, Firstov played three seasons at UConn before opting for the KHL. He was the 42nd overall pick in 2019.
