ST. PAUL, Minn - On Friday, the Minnesota Wild and the Vancouver Canucks completed a blockbuster trade involving one of the NHL’s premier defensemen: Quinn Hughes.

Wild General Manager and President of Hockey operations Bill Guerin wasn’t in an office when the deal got accepted. He wasn’t staring at a cap spreadsheet or pacing a hallway waiting for his phone to ring.

He was in his kitchen.

Latex gloves on. Rolling meatballs. Christmas Eve dinner preparation was underway.

Then the phone rang.

“Jim [Rutherford] called,” Guerin said. “I had to take my latex gloves off. I was rolling meatballs, and he told me we had a deal. There was a fist-pump involved.”

That was the moment Minnesota landed Hughes. A franchise defenseman, a Norris Trophy winner, and the kind of player general managers spend years hoping become available.

'We Want To Compete For The Stanley Cup': Why Bill Guerin Went All In And Why He Has No Regrets Guerin risked significant assets for Quinn Hughes, believing immediate action was crucial. He's ready to compete for the Stanley Cup, showing no regrets.

The process started a week ago. Speculation grew around the league centered around Hughes and his long-term fit in Vancouver.

Hughes, 26, is one season away from being a free agent and the expectation was he was not going to sign long-term in Vancouver despite being the captain. Once the Canucks got the indication that it was true, they began looking.

The Wild decided to throw their name in the hat to possible acquire Hughes. But the rest of the league thought New Jersey would be the top spot because Jack and Luke, Quinn's two brothers, play for the Devils.

Washington and Philadelphia were also rumored. No one expected Minnesota to be in the mix.

"Yeah, I was actually flying home from a scouting trip a week ago. What’s today? A week ago or on Monday, a week ago, and I just called Jim and – obviously Jim and I have a relationship, and we chatted about it, and he told me what they wanted to try and accomplish with the move," Guerin said. "I felt we could satisfy their needs, and we did. And that’s why it’s great. You know, Jim and Patrik [Allvin] are friends, guys that I’ve worked with in the past. I know how they deal with situations like this, and they get right to the point. And I think that’s why it worked."

It actually wasn't Guerin's idea. The Canucks didn't call the Wild looking to acquire Zeev Buium or Marco Rossi. The Wild's Assistant General Manager Mat Sells called Guerin when he was in New York and said he should give the Canucks a call.

“I was in New York, and Mat Sells called me and he says, ‘Hey, you know, this sounds kind of crazy, but maybe give Jim a call.’ I give Mat a lot of credit — he pushes me, and so do Chris Kelleher and Mike Murray. They pushed me. But Mat made the call, and he’s like, ‘This might sound nuts, but … maybe make the call,’ and I did.”

Now, as the Wild push through one of the NHL’s toughest divisions, they do so with a franchise defenseman added to a core that includes Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Faber and two elite goalies.

The window is open. The expectations are real. And it all traces back to a moment that never looked like it could happen.

Just a kitchen, a pair of latex gloves and a fist pump over Christmas Eve meatballs.

But it is safe it say those Italian meatballs will taste a little bit better this Christmas.

“They’re really good," Guerin said. "They’re really good. It’s my wife’s recipe. I’m just doing the grunt work.”

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