Rumor: NHL GM will be relieved of his duties very shortly.

The firing of Florida Panthers' head coach Gerard Gallant came as a massive shock to the National Hockey League but now the details behind that termination are proving to be just as interesting as the firing itself.

It seems that Gallant may not be the only casualty of this purge from the Panthers as there are now rumors that general manager Tim Rowe, who is now expected to take over head coaching duties, will soon be stripped of his decision making power as a general manager.

First, TSN's Bob McKenzie has reported that the Panthers, prior to the firing of Gallant. were using a system of management by committee with Rowe as well as assistant general managers Eric Joyce and Steve Werier and team president Dave Tallon all having input. Now however with Gallant gone that may be changing and it sounds like Rowe may be the odd man out with McKenzie claiming that Tallon, Werier and Joyce taking on the majority of those decisions moving forard.

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While it may seem innocuous to someone on the outside looking in, we know thanks to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman that this may in fact be a shuffling of power that will look to push Tim Rowe out entirely sooner rather than later.

From Friedman:

The other question is whether or not Rowe keeps the GM title. For a while now, the belief is assistant GM Eric Joyce — who runs AHL Springfield as part of his duties — would eventually take over. His time may be now. It’s impossible to be both coach and GM in the NHL.

Undoubtedly, we’re going to hear a lot more over the next few days.

A very interesting story with clearly a lot more going on behind the curtain than the public is aware of, and one that is far from over.