The Minnesota Wild has seemingly vetted a busload of candidates over the past two weeks during its search for a new general manager. That includes Bill Guerin, who this week reportedly met with Wild leadership for a second time.
Michael Russo of The Athletic wrote Friday that “it sure feels like one horse is starting to separate himself from the rest of the field” after Guerin on Thursday met in Minnesota with owner Craig Leipold, team president Matt Majka and Mike Modano, who is assisting the Wild with its search.
Russo did add, though, that former Flyers GM Ron Hextall “is still very much in the mix” while mentioning several other candidates, including former Penguins exec Tom Fitzgerald and NBC analyst and ex-Penguins assistant coach Pierre McGuire.
The Wild is searching for a new general manager after stunningly firing Paul Fenton after just over a year with the organization. Guerin, an assistant general manager with the Penguins, interviewed for the job last offseason, too.
Guerin, who first met with the Wild two weeks ago, has been general manager Jim Rutherford’s top assistant 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.
As a player, Guerin won two Cups, including one in Pittsburgh in 2009.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: August 16, 2019, 1:41 p.m.
