True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd. is expected on Wednesday to name Kevin Cheveldayoff as the general manager of its new NHL team in Winnipeg.
Cheveldayoff was reportedly offered the job around the same time True North parted company with Rick Dudley, who was the general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers. After True North reached an agreement to buy the Thrashers last week (pending approval by the NHL's board of governors), it became known company chairman Mark Chipman wanted to pick his own hockey operations department.
It is also expected that Thrashers head coach Craig Ramsay will not be retained, although it is not known whether that issue will be addressed on Wednesday. If Ramsay is let go, Claude Noel, head coach of True North's American Hockey League club, the Manitoba Moose, is expected to get the job.
Cheveldayoff, 41, is familiar with many Thrashers players. Before joining the Chicago Blackhawks in August of 2009 - he was named assistant general manager last September - the Saskatoon native was the general manager of the AHL's Chicago Wolves for 12 years. The Wolves were the Thrashers' farm team for the past several NHL seasons.