There is also the story that the HC will "report directly to the owner," which is a huge mistake if that's the case. The Pegulas either need to come out in full support of Whaley or they need to fire him. This wishy-wash, in the middle approach isn't going to work.
No decent HC candidate is going to take a job with an organization if they fear the GM might get canned as a new GM will almost always want to bring in their own HC.
Personally, I hope they hold onto Whaley and I think he's done a good job but if they don't they need to fire him now and hire a new GM asap.