The Minnesota Wild announced this afternoon that the Wild organization and General Manager Bill Guerin have parted ways with Assistant General Manager Chris O’Hearn. This was noted to be mutually agreed upon parting of ways, but it still comes as a shock.
As Michael Russo from the Athletic mentions in his tweet above, O’Hearn was considered Guerin’s right-hand man and was the top contract negotiator for the Wild. His legal background made him an asset when working on complicated legal documents like contracts.
O’Hearn is no stranger to the world of the NHL. His father, Mike O’Hearn, worked for the Winnipeg Jets and then the Arizona Coyotes (then named the Phoenix Coyotes). O’Hearn started working as a stick boy for the Coyotes when he was 14 and held that position until he graduated from Arizona State. He graduated from the New England School of Law shortly before starting work in the NHL.
From 2012-14, O’Hearn worked for the then Phoenix Coyotes as the Director of Hockey Administration. In the 2014-15 season, he was the Vice President of Hockey Operations for the renamed Arizona Coyotes before being named the Assistant General Manager from 2015-18.
O’Hearn joined the Minnesota Wild staff as the Director of Hockey Operations in 2019, serving in that position until he was named the Assistant General Manager in 2021. He served for two seasons as the Assistant GM for the Wild. The Wild stated that they would not be commenting further on the personnel change.
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