Last month, Bill Guerin got to watch Wild star defenseman Quinn Hughes live out two of the general manager’s life-long dreams. First, Hughes won an Olympic gold medal in Italy. And a week later, Hughes was live from New York on a Saturday night.
“I told him that he crushed my dreams, because that’s always been, like, my show,” Guerin said on Sunday, looking back at Hughes’ cameo appearance, alongside his brother Jack and U.S. women’s team gold medalists Megan Keller and Hillary Knight, on the Saturday Night Live monologue.
When Guerin was a teenager in Massachusetts, he had an early morning paper route and was unable to stay up late for SNL, but would record it on a VHS tape, then watch the show over and over during the course of the week.
“I’d memorize all of the skits and things like that,” he said. “Eddie Murphy as Gumby and just classic stuff. So Quinn crushed my dreams, but I’m happy for him.”
Back in his full-time gig as the man other NHL general managers are calling in advance of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline, Guerin reflected back on the “torture” of overtime games versus Sweden and Canada, and the eventual thrill of the gold medal won by the American team that he assembled. He acknowledged there was controversy in some of the final players selections, but said the results in Italy speak for themselves.
“I like to feel that, you know, I was right,” he said. “I don’t look for that from anybody. Like, we won the gold medal. That’s enough.”
In the immediate aftermath of the finale versus Canada, the nation-wide celebration also touched off some controversy of its own. FBI director Kash Patel was recorded drinking and celebrating in the team locker room. They took a call from the President in which Donald Trump made a joke about the women’s team that was widely regarded as misogynist. Most of the men’s team went to the White House and attended the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, prompting calls from critics that they were being used as political pawns.
“I’m not surprised at anything nowadays. Like, you know, honestly, I don’t know. I’m not surprised but I’m also not letting it bother me,” Guerin said of the backlash.
“You know what? We just won a gold medal. Nothing’s gonna ruin this,” he added. “I don’t care what people say or what they think…That’s one hell of a team. Those kids are all great people, good family men, and nothing that anybody could ever say would make me change my mind.”
With the Wild charging toward the playoffs and expecting much more than the first round exits that fans have seen for a decade now, Guerin said he has some salary cap room to do things, and would like to, if the offer is right. Specifically, he talked of a continued need to improve in the faceoff circle, which would mean adding a center. On Sunday it was revealed that hard-nosed winger Marcus Foligno will miss time with a lower body injury. While neither Guerin nor coach John Hynes would offer an update on the severity of Foligno’s injury or the timetable for his return, the general manager said the injury could potentially add an additional wrinkle to the trade deadline talks.
“We’ll figure that out,” Guerin said. “I think he’s tough to replace. Guys like him are hard to find.”
But unlike previous years where the Wild were hampered by bought-out contracts eating up eight figures of salary cap space, Guerin has more ability to make moves in 2026. And with the sights set on a deep playoff run, he sounds more than willing to do so.
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