Bill Guerin


William Robert Guerin is an American former professional ice hockey player and the current general manager of the Minnesota Wild. He previously was the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins and general manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Guerin played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League, winning two Stanley Cup championships with the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Internationally, Guerin represented the United States in the Olympics in 1998 Winter Olympics|1998], 2002 Winter Olympics|2002], Ice hockey at the [2006 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament|2006] and Ice hockey at the [2026 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament|2026] and participated in two Ice Hockey World Championships. Guerin was the first player of Hispanic descent to play in the NHL.

Playing career

Professional

Guerin was drafted in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft fifth overall by the New Jersey Devils and played with the team from 1991 to 1998, winning the 1995 [Stanley Cup Finals|Stanley Cup in 1995]. Midway through the 1997–98 season, Guerin was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir.
In November 2001, Guerin was traded to his hometown team, the Boston Bruins.
After a 41-goal season in 2001–02, Guerin signed a five-year contract with the Dallas Stars. He performed below expectations with the Stars. Dallas bought out the remainder of his contract after a disappointing season in 2005–06 in which he recorded just 40 points. The Stars had to pay two-thirds of the remaining salary on his contract spread over twice as many years; this meant $6.7 million over one year became $4.4 million over two years.
On July 3, 2006, Guerin signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the St. Louis Blues. Playing on a line with former Oiler teammate Doug Weight, Guerin revived his career, easily eclipsing his disappointing goal-scoring mark from the 2005–06 season. He was named to the 2007 [National Hockey League All-Star Game|2007 All-Star Game] to represent the Blues. Despite numerous criticisms of his play during his time as a Star, Guerin received a standing ovation from the Dallas fans in recognition of his status as a longtime fan favorite.
On February 2, 2007, Guerin became the 214th NHL player to play in 1,000 games. Later that month, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Ville Nieminen, prospect Jay Barriball, and a conditional first-round pick. During the subsequent offseason, Guerin signed a two-year contract with the New York Islanders. On July 9, 2007, he was named captain of the Islanders, making him the 11th captain in team history.
On March 4, 2009, Guerin was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional draft pick. The pick, a 2009 fourth-round pick if the Penguins made the playoffs, was later turned into a 2009 third-round pick once the Penguins advanced to the second round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. Guerin won the Stanley Cup on June 12, 2009, with the Penguins, defeating the Detroit Red Wings by a final score of 2–1 for Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena. His 14 years between Stanley Cups as a player was the third-longest wait in NHL history, behind Chris Chelios and Mark Recchi.
After vocal encouragement for his return from the crowd and teammates at Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup parade on June 15, as well as expressing his affection for the city and team, Guerin signed a one-year contract extension with the Penguins on June 29 at a greatly reduced salary to play through the 2009–10 season. He became the first player to have a 20-goal season with seven different teams and one of only three to have a 20-goal season with five or more different teams. Ray Shero, the general manager for the Penguins opted not to offer Guerin a contract for the 2010–11 season. On September 7, 2010, the Philadelphia Flyers invited Guerin to try out at training camp, but on October 4, the Flyers released him before the start of the regular season.
On December 6, 2010, Guerin announced his retirement as a player from the NHL as a Pittsburgh Penguin. At the time of his retirement, Guerin ranked seventh all-time among Americans in the NHL with 429 goals.

Management career

On June 6, 2011, the Penguins hired Guerin as their player development coach. On June 6, 2014, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford announced that Guerin would be promoted to assistant general manager of the team. Rutherford said that Guerin would be focusing on developing the analytical side of the game. Following consecutive Stanley Cup triumphs in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins announced that Guerin's duties would expand to include the role of general manager of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, made vacant via the departure of Jason Botterill to the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
On August 21, 2019, Guerin was named the fourth general manager of the Minnesota Wild.
On March 21, 2022, Guerin was named the TSN TradeCentre GM of the Day, for his transactions at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.

Controversies

Sexual assault coverup allegation

In a lawsuit filed on November 3, 2020, in Pennsylvania, it was alleged that Guerin played a role in covering up an alleged sexual assault on the wife of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins assistant coach Jarrod Skalde by the team's head coach Clark Donatelli. The lawsuit, Skalde et al. v. Lemieux Group, L.P. et al., alleges that Guerin, then the general manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, "told Skalde to keep quiet about the alleged assault." Guerin denied any wrongdoing on his part, claiming that he had "promptly brought to Pittsburgh Penguins senior management". The lawsuit was settled in November 2021. An internal investigation by the NHL confirmed that he had reported the incident promptly and cleared him of wrongdoing.
The United States Center for SafeSport opened an investigation on Guerin over his alleged role in the whistleblower lawsuit. As of April 2022, the organization had not yet released its findings, nor confirmed whether the investigation remained ongoing.

Verbal abuse investigation

In December 2023, the Wild investigated after an employee filed a verbal abuse complaint against Guerin to human resources. Guerin retained his position, no sanctions were announced, and the Wild refused to comment.

Personal life

Guerin was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and raised in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He attended Wilbraham & Monson Academy, and played junior hockey for the Springfield Olympics instead of high school hockey. Guerin is of Nicaraguan and Irish descent.
Guerin and his wife Kara have four children and reside in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. They previously lived in Moorestown, New Jersey during his tenure with the Devils.
File:Bill Guerin Masterton Nominee 2010-04-03.JPG|thumb|Guerin is honored as the Penguins nominee for the Masterton Trophy during a pregame ceremony in April 2010

Awards and achievements

Regular season and playoffs

International

Transactions