When most modern-day hockey fans think of Bill Guerin, they think of the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild, who also put together a USA Hockey team that brought home a Gold Medal in 2026 for the first time since 1980.
What some people might not know, is that Guerin was actually a great player in the National Hockey League before becoming an executive.
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The New Jersey Devils made Guerin the 5th overall pick in the 1989 NHL Draft out of Boston College. It turned out to be a great selection for them, as he played in parts of seven seasons for New Jersey, including 1995, when they won the Stanley Cup.
Guerin, in 380 games with New Jersey, scored 108 goals, 106 assists, and 214 points. He played a role on a team that was elite defensively, knew how to find the back of the net as a collective, and won a lot of games as a result.
On January 4th, 1998, New Jersey traded Guerin to the Edmonton Oilers in a deal that brought in Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir. Of course, Arnott would go on to score an overtime Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2000.
After his four-year run in Edmonton ended in 2001, he spent time with the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
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In 2009, the Penguins acquired Guerin ahead of the trade deadline and won the Stanley Cup later that spring. Guerin’s career ended one year later with two Stanley Cup rings, 429 goals, 427 assists, and 856 points in 1,263 games.
Guerin’s points-per-game totals increased after leaving New Jersey, which makes sense, given that they were the defense-minded “trap” team during his tenure. When he left, he went to a handful of systems that favored his offensive abilities a bit more.
Here in 2026, Guerin is in the minds of New Jersey Devils fans again because he has a decision to make about his star defenseman in Minnesota, Quinn Hughes. Of course, Quinn’s two younger brothers are part of the modern-day Devils’ core, and the speculation is that he’d like to join forces with them one day.
Earlier in the summer, it seemed like a lock that Quinn would stay with Guerin in Minnesota, but every day that passes makes that feel less and less likely. Will Quinn Hughes and Bill Guerin have been Devils players in common when it’s all said and done? Only time will tell, but there is no denying the impact that Guerin has already made on New Jersey’s hockey team.
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