Fenton comments on Zucker trade rumors, gets destroyed by Zucker's wife.

If you thought the public relations nightmare for Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton could not possibly get any worse, you were sorely mistaken.

The Wild's general manager has been the subject of significant controversy as a result of the moves he has made for the organization since taking over from former Minnesota Wild general manager, and current Philadelphia Flyers general manager, Chuck Fletcher. Most notably the trades that saw the Wild trade Mikael Granlund to the Nashville Predators, Fenton's former team, in exchange for Kevin Fiala and of course the nearly comically bad deal that saw the Wild give up Nino Niederreiter to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Victor Rask's terrible contract. The fact that Nino Niederreiter has looked good since joining the Hurricanes has only served to make Fenton's moves for the team look even worse. 

On top of this the nonsense that has been the Jason Zucker situation has been hanging over the Wild and Fenton himself like some type of dark cloud. Zucker was reportedly traded twice by Fenton, first to the Flames at the 2019 NHL trade deadline and then to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal involving Phil Kessel, only for both of those trades to eventually fall apart. This has created the impression that Fenton is desperate to get rid of Zucker and has no doubt severely damaged his trade value in the process. It has led to even more criticism of Fenton, but that criticism may have reached its peak on Friday.

Fenton was asked, on camera, about the rampant rumors that have floated around Zucker and his response did not exactly come off as genuine. 

"For Jason, he's a part of our team. I don't plan on getting rid of Jason unless the right thing came to me... I listen to offers, and I make offers, just like everybody else does... I love Jason as a player, and he'll be a great player when he comes back with us."

Things have gotten so bad for Fenton in fact that Zucker's wife, Carly Zucker, was quick to respond on social media and it seemed to be like she was attempting to expose the Wild GM's dishonesty. 

"I totally get it, wrote Zucker's wife. "I’m not planning to get rid of him as a husband, but I’m always open to offers if the right thing comes along..."

It's hard to imagine how Zucker comes back to the team after his relationship with the general manager has deteriorated to this point, and frankly I would not be surprised if Zucker had not already demanded a trade after everything he has gone through over the last several months under Paul Fenton's leadership.