Bill Guerin is officially named new general manager of the Minnesota Wild

After working with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization for almost nine years as both a player developer and an assistant general manager, Bill Guerin has officially accepted the vacant general manager position from the Minnesota Wild.

His acceptance makes him the fourth GM in Wild history, replacing the infamous Paul Fenton, and his contract could be finalized as early as Thursday. Guerin will be flying to Minnesota today.

It is reported that Guerin beat out about a dozen talented, prospective candidates for the job, including the likes of Montreal Canadians’ assistant GM Scott Mellanby and former Philadelphia Flyers’ GM Rox Hextall, who was fired from their organization earlier this year.

We broke down the potential repercussions of Guerin leaving the Penguins organization and what it would mean for the team going forward last week, stating that when the Penguins first hired current GM Jim Rutherford, it was expected to be a short-term position, with one of either Guerin, Jason Botterill, or Tom Fitzgerald set up to take the reigns from him once he bowed out. We also mentioned that it wouldn’t be surprising if Guerin impressed the Wild during the interview process.

All three of them have now left to join different teams, and it seems Rutherford’s tenure will continue on course for the long run.

Guerin is a U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer with two Stanley Cups under his belt as a player (a tenure that ended less than a decade ago) and two additional championship wins as a Penguins’ executive. It was in the cards that Guerin would eventually move up and be a GM for his own team — Rutherford even said as much.

This is a dream come true for the former Penguin, and it’s expected that Guerin will continue to thrive in his new role.