Wild General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin is not on the hot seat after the team missed the playoffs.
Wild General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin is not on the hot seat after the team missed the playoffs.
ST. PAUL - Minnesota Wild Owner Craig Leipold spoke highly of current Wild General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin on Tuesday.
Despite the team missing the playoffs last year for the second time since 2012, Guerin is not on the hot seat.
"There is no pressure on Bill. He and I are totally connected with this," Leipold said. "We didn't make the playoffs last year and we can all look back at why it didn't happen but as we say in the business, shit happens. Hopefully, it doesn't happen two years in a row. We're going to work hard and our plan is to make the playoffs. So there is no what if we don't? We are gonna make it."
Even if the Wild miss the playoffs again this year, it seems as if Guerin is safe. Next year is the first year the Wild won't have enormous amounts of dead cap locked up in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. It will be the first year that Guerin can really build a contending team.
"There has been discussion of that. Those aren't thoughts that you have before the season ever starts," Leipold said on if this year's result is the same could there be changes. "To be honest with you, I've never walked into a season going, I may have to let him go, you know, 20 games or something. You just play the season."
There is no doubt this is a big year for the Wild as they hope to take a big step as a team right before they open next year with a lot of money available to sign a few players and extend Kirill Kaprizov.
“I think so, yeah. I think it does, particularly the young players. He wants to win, so he’ll look at what’s happening, where we want to be," Leipold said on showing Kaprizov they are worth it this year. "He’s still a young guy, obviously, a very young player with a long runway, and we need to show to him — and, frankly, we need to show to a lot of people, show our fans — that we’re committed to winning and we’re gonna get there.”
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