SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced Minnesota Wild Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin is a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.
The award has been presented annually since 2009-10 to the general manager who best excelled at his role during the regular season. It is voted on by the League's general managers and a panel of NHL executives and print and broadcast media after the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is the first time Guerin has been named a finalist for this award.
Minnesota ranked seventh in the NHL in points during the regular season and has advanced to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2015. Guerin acquired defenseman Quinn Hughes in a trade with Vancouver on Dec. 12 and added several veterans to the roster at the NHL Trade deadline including forwards Bobby Brink, Nick Foligno and Michael McCarron and defenseman Jeff Petry. The team also added forward Nico Sturm via free agency and acquired forward Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade with Detroit last summer.
Guerin is in his seventh season as the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild and third as President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. He was originally named the fourth General Manager of the Minnesota Wild on August 21, 2019. Under his leadership, the Wild has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six out of seven seasons (2020-23, 2024-26) and achieved consecutive 100-point seasons for the second time in franchise history (2021-23) while balancing challenging salary cap restraints.
Guerin worked extensively as an executive on the international level and served as General Manager of the United States Men’s National Team for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, leading Team USA to its first Gold Medal finish since 1980, and at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, where he guided Team USA to a Silver Medal.
Chris MacFarland (Colorado) and Pat Verbeek (Anaheim) have also been selected as finalists.
