Last offseason, the Minnesota Wild interviewed Bill Guerin for their vacant general manager position before picking Paul Fenton for that gig.
You may have seen that the Fenton hire didn’t work out so well.
So the Wild are again looking for a general manager. And they again are considering Guerin, who met with the Wild on Monday to chat about the job, according to a source. He is reportedly one of the first few candidates to interview.
Guerin has been Jim Rutherford’s assistant GM since 2014. Prior to that, he was a player development coach for the Penguins from 2011 to 2014, helping to groom some of the youngsters who contributed to back-to-back Stanley Cups.
The Wild are looking for a leader and a “hockey guy.” Guerin fits that mold.
In his current role, the 48-year-old Massachusetts native obviously assists Rutherford with the day-to-day management of the NHL roster. He has also overseen their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since Jason Botterill left the organization in 2017 to become the GM in Buffalo.
Guerin, a deadline acquisition who helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009, played 18 seasons in the NHL, scoring 429 goals and adding 427 assists. He was named an All-Star four times and also won a Stanley Cup with New Jersey.
The Athletic first reported that Guerin interviewed with the Wild.
Despite the apparent dysfunction in Minnesota, the opening is garnering interest. The Athletic added that Carolina’s Don Waddell also interviewed Monday. Former GMs Ron Hextall, Brian Lawton and Peter Chiarelli, too, have talked to Wild, which is being assisted in its search by Hall of Famer Mike Modano.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: August 6, 2019, 1:36 p.m.