CALGARY, Alberta - Chuck Fletcher on Wednesday added Brent Flahr as vice president and assistant general manager, the position formerly held by Chris Pryor, who was fired two days after Ron Hextall.
Flahr will be primarily responsible for the amateur scouting department and will oversee draft day - the same role he served with the Wild from 2010 to 2018.
"He's been very active on the amateur scouting front this year, so he'll work closely with our amateur scouts here in Philadelphia," Fletcher said Wednesday. "He'll also be a key advisor to me on player transactions and he's got very good front office experience."
In those eight seasons under Flahr, Minnesota drafted forwards Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker in 2010, defenseman Jonas Brodin in 2011, Mathew Dumba in 2012 and Alex Tuch in 2014. Dumba currently leads all NHL defensemen with 12 goals this season.
If there's a knock against Flahr, it's that he hasn't found that diamond-in-the-rough type of player in the third or later rounds. There hasn't been one Wild prospect selected after the first two rounds that has had a promising NHL career.
However, Flahr had been a little handcuffed over the past few years. The Wild had a total of four picks in 2016 and didn't have a first- or- second-round selection in 2017.
Philadelphia Flyers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and their rivals in the NHL from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
"I took a lot of picks away from him the past few years," Fletcher said. "We traded a lot of picks the past few years in Minnesota, trying to get better and trying to win, so considering the number of picks the scouting staff had, I think they did a very good job."
The move was expected considering Flahr is highly regarded and is also one of Fletcher's closest confidants as they go back to Fletcher's time with the Ducks and even the Panthers when Flahr was selling tickets and Fletcher served as assistant GM from 1993 to 2002 (see story).
"He has a good eye for talent and Brent is very familiar with many of the Flyers' [scouts]," Fletcher said. "They've already been communicating and I think it will be a seamless transition, where there's a lot of mutual respect. I think it will work very well with the guys that are currently on our staff."
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.
