Dan Wallace: Guerin New Wild GM, Eriksson Ek Signed

I have to wonder if Dan actually does much research before he writes his articles? A year ago Guerin said he wasn't much of an analytics guy and was more of an old school hockey GM. Look at what he did while he was GM of the Pens farm club... He's supposed to be a good talent evaluator so there is that. I just am not overly excited about this hire. Hopefully he proves me wrong!

With the GM position filled, Wild can now sign Gardiner for 3y at 6.25mln caphit.

With the GM position filled, Wild can now sign Gardiner for 3y at 6.25mln caphit.
- MaximusAurelius

Not if they want to resign Fiala...

I'll second the notion that Guerin hasn't been labelled an analytics guy or progressive thinker.

Mnhockeyguy

I agree. I've read a number of articles that don't paint Bill G. as much of new school guy. In fact it looks like that was coming from Botterill who learned how to identify talent you can't get with first round picks. Look at Wilkes-Barre since he left versus the Amercks in the same time frame.

But maybe he's smart enough to hire and listen to the right people.

Dan any success from this team is dependent on the young guys taking the next step

Mnhockeyguy

I agree. I've read a number of articles that don't paint Bill G. as much of new school guy. In fact it looks like that was coming from Botterill who learned how to identify talent you can't get with first round picks. Look at Wilkes-Barre since he left versus the Amercks in the same time frame.

But maybe he's smart enough to hire and listen to the right people.
- BluemanGuruu

Hopefully he is smart enough to rehire some of the analytics team that Fenton foolishly fired...?

Terrible hire, Guerin was a great player but he ran WBS into the ground and def isnt an analytics guy

Terrible hire, Guerin was a great player but he ran WBS into the ground and def isnt an analytics guy
- APar2008

Sure, let's go with he ran the farm club into the ground. It had nothing to do with roster turnover and promotion, it all had to do with player selection...90% of whom were selected by the NHL GM and assigned to WBS.

The Wild's biggest problem is that they're not bad enough to go into a rebuild and not good enough to seriously contend. They need to pick a direction.

Im taking the same approach to guerin as i did with fenton, I'm going to try and stay neutral until he's had a full season.

Well, Guerin wasn't my first pick for the new GM, but he at least was on the list. And I am not sure where it comes from that he is a new-age analytics type, as (stated by everyone else as well) everything I have read about him is that he does pull from the more old-school thinking. But here's hoping that he does right and boosts the analytical department a bunch. The smart and good leaders become great by placing the right people in the right places.

Just like mnMild said, I am going to try to refrain from digging at Guerin until he has had at least a year to show what his plan is. I do like that he is not looking to replace anyone this very instance (although letting Fenton's son go might be a smart move) and is going to evaluate everyone and everything first off. And I do like hearing that he is a motivator, whether it's people in the front office or players on the ice. From everything that has been written over the past couple of months, this sounds like a breath of fresh air and might just make playing for the Wild enjoyable again. That should translate to wins.

Now that the Wild have a new GM, he has to get to work. First line of business should be getting Marner from the Leafs. So, my continuing series on my dreams of trades I would like to see. Something like Fiala, Greenway, Brown and Spurgeon for Marner, Kerfoot and Ceci. Or maybe replace Kerfoot with Nylander.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm sniffing glue or something. Like I said, dream series.

The Wild's biggest problem is that they're not bad enough to go into a rebuild and not good enough to seriously contend. They need to pick a direction.
- jmatchett383

I think Guerin's biggest long-term problem is the Parise and Suter contracts. There is a good chance they will outlive his tenure as GM (2025 - one year less than the end of the Bryz buyout - which unfortunately is a compliance buyout). Both players are older and while I do not watch The Wild a lot it seems that Parise is injured a lot and Suter doesn't play at the $7.5M level now and certainly won't in six years. These contracts will make any serious tear down/rebuild more difficult.

Well he has won 2 stanley cups as a player - that automatically makes him a great GM. Wow. From the back of the bus (a player under direct supervision) to driving the bus (driving the boat). It is going to be a "wild" year in Wild land. Unless of course he does what Fenton did.....absolutely nothing. I feel for the Wild.