Fletcher will serve as aide to Gretzky PHOENIX (AP) - Former NHL general manager Cliff Fletcher signed a five-year contract to help incoming part-owner Wayne Gretzky run the Phoenix Coyotes. Gretzky confirmed to The Arizona Republic that Fletcher has been hired and was to arrive in Phoenix on Tuesday. "We needed to have an experienced guy, and Cliff is certainly that," Gretzky told the newspaper. "Not only does he know hockey, but he knows everything about the league's Board of Governors and how things work at that level. He's a great hockey man, a wonderful, first-class person and I'm really excited we could get him." Fletcher will serve as Gretzky's top assistant once he and majority investor Steve Ellman assume control of the Coyotes this month. Gretzky will be in charge of all hockey operations. Fletcher was senior adviser to Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Rick Dudley the last two seasons.