It’s been a chaotic season for the Minnesota Wild on the ice to begin the year, and it seems the roster is not the only part of the franchise in disarray.
Earlier this week two separate code of conduct investigations into the Wild front office were revealed via reporting from Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic, leading the club to part ways with assistant general manager Chris O’Hearn.
Minnesota had already fired head coach Dean Evason on November 27 after losing 14 of their its 19 games to begin the year.
There is obviously a lot going on here so let’s break it down.
What's up with these two code of conduct investigations?
In short, we don’t know a ton.
O’Hearn abruptly departed the team following the conclusion of the first investigation. Notably, O’Hearn was the right-hand man of general manager Bill Guerin, who was reportedly the subject of a second, separate investigation into alleged abuse.
The Athletic reported the two investigations were overlapping with the former wrapping up as the second began:
In recent weeks, there have been two investigations into the Wild front office. Members of the team’s hockey support staff, hockey operations department and business staff began being interviewed regarding the second one by two attorneys Dec. 1 after the team returned from a road game in Nashville. It appears that the first investigation just happened to conclude at the same time the second one was being conducted.
The second investigation appeared to focus on a verbal incident between Guerin and another high-ranking official in late November.
The Athletic reported Minnesota hired an outside firm to conduct the investigation into Guerin’s conduct with two attorneys interviewing more than 15 members of the organization. The second investigation’s results were delivered to upper management and ownership, who concluded the GM did not commit a fireable offense.
The NHL told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Thursday it feels the appropriate steps were taken.
“We have been kept apprised of the process the Wild went through, and are satisfied with how they decided to handle the situation,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to the Star Tribune. “We have no further comment beyond that.”
Were there any indications Guerin or O'Hearn were in trouble?
Yes and no.
The Athletic noted that Guerin was not with the team during it’s recent four-game road trip, which it cited as unusual given this was John Hynes first extended trip as new head coach. Guerin did not show up to a team charity gala on Tuesday, either, with Russo and Smith noting his wife, Kara, appeared instead to explain Guerin was taking “an important call”.
The GM also did not attend a Board of Governors meeting in Seattle.
O’Hearn, however, was the team’s front-office representative on the road trip and, according to The Athletic, everything was business as usual:
He didn’t give the appearance that anything was amiss, being around the team in his normal jovial fashion and answering questions from reporters about the team likely needing to go into LTIR. Agents who have spoken to him in recent weeks said it was business as usual.
What have the Wild said about the investigations?
Unsurprisingly, very little.
On O’Hearn’s departure, the team used the standard ambiguous language saying:
“Chris O’Hearn and the Minnesota Wild have mutually agreed to part ways. The Wild will not comment further on this matter.”
On Guerin, the team was similarly cagey:
“The Minnesota Wild takes its code of conduct seriously. We recently concluded two separate investigations into alleged violations of that code of conduct, and have taken appropriate steps to address the matters raised to our attention. The club will not comment further.”
Wasn't Guerin in trouble for workplace culture before?
You may be thinking of a 2020 lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Penguins that mentioned Guerin.
The lawsuit filed by former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant coach Jarrod Skalde alleged Clark Donatelli, then the coach of the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, sexually assaulted Sklade’s wife in 2019.
Guerin was the assistant GM of the Penguins at the time and oversaw the club’s AHL team. He was accused in the lawsuit of trying to cover up the incident when Donatelli resigned months later.
“When I learned of these allegations, I promptly brought them to Pittsburgh Penguins senior management,” Guerin said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. “The allegations were quickly investigated. I emphatically deny anything to the contrary.”
The case was dismissed with prejudice in November, 2021.
So what's next?
Yeah, that’s the tricky part.
The Wild are a mess both on the ice and in the front office. Changes appear vital, but beyond cleaning house entirely its hard to see what that looks like.
O’Hearn was team’s salary cap and collective bargaining agreement specialist. Guerin is the architect of the current roster. There’s a lot of moving pieces and the team hasn’t gotten any better.
Minnesota is 11-12-4 (26 points) and second-to-last the Central Division.
