Article: Bill Guerin Should Install Himself As the Next Wild Head Coach

[Enforceror]

8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Perhaps DeBoer just hasn't had the right combination yet?

I guess this is kind of my point. How much of the troubles this year are Hynes? How much BG? How much is support staff or assistant coaches. Draft picks, the roster in general....

There's plenty of blame to go around, but it'd be nice to know who is doing well at their job and who isn't. Ultimately the buck stops at BG (or arguably CL) but there are a lot of moving parts and we really don't have any true sight into the organization.

If only we had metrics for coaching staff apart from W or L.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Enforceror said:

I'm not saying he IS a good coach just wanted to hear some opinions backed up by facts rather than speculation. As Wild fans, I think we tend to (obviously) focus on our team and only hear snippets from other teams. I'm tempted to closely follow a cup contender (Panthers, Oilers, etc.) and see what similarities/differences the organizations make. Off the top of my head I think the aging vets thing is done by most NHL teams. Not playing the kids may be a 50/50. etc etc.

He's not a bad coach, he just hasn't proven to be a top 10 coach. The Wild, primarily not playing any rookies, had the best points percentage in the league last season before injuries to some of their top difference makers had them in free fall and barely making the playoffs...after incredible pushes from other teams who finished just behind the Wild.

In the playoffs, the Wild have faced teams with more salary cap talent each year since Guerin has been here. Evason is also a solid coach, but not top 10. It's hard to bring in a top 10 coach unless you have the situation to attract a top 10 coach who's already had NHL success.

Fans are just going to complain unless you win a lot, regardless of how good the coach might be. Currently, the youth probably make it more likely that the Wild lose some games, but people want wins and they want the youth to play.

Hynes doesn't have a long track record of success, so it's easy to say that he sucks, but since he might be average, a new coach could be a downgrade. Guerin does have some history with Hynes, and GMs often do hire people they've crossed paths with in the past, allowing them to have some idea of how they would run things if they put them in charge.

It's not easy to make a case for Hynes being better than all of the alternatives, but there aren't a lot of top 10 coaches not working right now. I don't expect to see any coaching changes until this team is beyond the trade deadline, if at all.

The Wild are showing fight and have gotten points in 3 of the last 4 games. They need better results overall, but I suspect Guerin will give Hynes quite a bit of leeway as he attempts to get the youth playing at a level that can sustain winning streaks.

[Burnt Toast]

On 11/3/2025 at 7:47 PM, 1Brotherbill said:

The only contract that I see that is a burden on the Wild Cap and Roster

I agree with a lot of your assessment. The difference between the Wild and top contenders is that the Wild have too many “Mid Tier” contracts. They need to start setting aside another $12M for an elite scorer type. That means jettisoning some Mids and going ELC or $1.5 M and under guys. If all the Mids were making the Wild a contending team I’d be fine with it, but that experiment is failing. So build the team’s roster with more balance. 

[Burnt Toast]

On 11/4/2025 at 5:40 AM, greg said:

Could it be possible that Guerin himself is the problem?

Absolutely. He has some very strong positives that he brings but his weaknesses are showing also. My biggest beef right now is not utilizing players where they can show off their strengths. Too many players have been traded away that I feel weren’t developed and integrated according to their best attributes. That’s got to change especially with the ELC guys coming in. There are plenty of examples of development on the fly, Dallas does a superb job. Just do whatever they do. And yes I’m talking about guys picked late first round/second round.