Bruce Boudreau has been fired by the Minnesota Wild, the team announced Thursday morning, shortly after The Athletic’s Michael Russo said Wild GM Bill Guerin delivered the news to the head coach at their team’s practice facility in St. Paul Thursday morning.
Boudreau was in the final year of his contract, with the Wild sitting three points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race. KFAN’s Paul Allen said on-air ir that he received a text from Boudreau, who said he did not expect to be fired.
According to Russo, assistant coach Dean Evason will be named interim coach.
The firing comes on the heels of Guerin trading Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Both moves could signal a changing of the guard both on the coaching staff and roster as more trades are possible between now and the Feb. 24 NHL trade deadline.
Guerin warned the team after trading Zucker that more trades would be made if he noticed any quit, and Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers was apparently the final straw for Boudreau.
Minnesota led 3-1 with under nine minutes left in the third period only to squander the lead and lose in a shootout. Still, the firing comes during a stretch in which the Wild are 4-1-1 in the last six games.
This is a developing story.
