Melissa Caruso, PWHL Minnesota’s new GM, pays homage to her predecessor, Natalie Darwitz

Now she will work just downtown with the team that, Hefford said, is about to sign on for a second season playing at the Xcel Energy Center and training at Tria Rink.

Caruso comes with a wealth of operations experience, but not a lot of player personnel background.

“My background has allowed me to be exposed to all areas of hockey,” Caruso said. “I feel fortunate for that. If you look around the NHL, the AHL, everyone takes their own path to becoming a GM. I’m very proud of my background. I know I have a great staff here, and I’m really looking forward to working with them. I’m a fast learner and I’m going to dive in head first here.”

She’ll work beside head coach Ken Klee, who was an emergency hire just days before last season’s opener after the first coach Darwitz hired, former Bethel coach Charlie Burggraf, unexpectedly resigned. Klee originally had interviewed for the general manager job that went to Darwitz.

League sources said Darwitz was fired in early June after a rift with Klee, who had the support of some of the team’s key players. At the time, Hefford said “a change needed to be made” after lengthy reviews revealed issues that could not be resolved.

A former U.S. women’s national team coach, Klee remains Minnesota’s head coach heading into a second PWHL that will start sooner — November or December — than the inaugural season’s January start.