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Bill Guerin Wins Most Deflating GM of the Year Award Ever
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- Bill Guerin Wins Most Deflating GM of the Year Award Ever
Minnesota Wild (@mnwild on X)
Bill Guerin is NHL GM of the Year. It's the first time a general manager of the Minnesota Wild has ever taken home the honor.
Billy earned it too, sending most of the organization's best prospects to Vancouver , in exchange for superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes . Not only did that trade help power the MN Wild to their first playoff series win in over a decade, but it has set them up to be Stanley Cup contenders for the foreseeable future.
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No doubt, it's an achievement worth celebrating.
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that's Billy G(M of the year) to you pic.twitter.com/5sZhxpxzpg
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) June 27, 2026
However, the circumstances in which the news broke did not lend to a normal reaction, especially for such a historic moment in franchise history. All day Friday, rumors have built up surrounding the likelihood that the MN Wild would finally complete the trade for Dylan Larkin .
Absent of draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft, the only news any Wild fan was hoping for tonight was that of a Dylan Larkin blockbuster.
Unique GM of the Year circumstances for Bill Guerin
And that's what we thought we were about to get when top Minnesota hockey reporter/insider Michael Russo (The Athletic) sent this tweet at 8:03 p.m. CDT.
I do sense there is some Wild news on the horizon 🤔
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) June 27, 2026
The winner of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season is Bill Guerin of the @mnwild ! 👏
This award is presented annually to the League's most outstanding general manager. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/zOBkampUHp— NHL (@NHL) June 27, 2026
Less than five minutes later, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Guerin as GM of the Year, making it undoubtedly the most disappointing postseason award announcement in sports history.
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Of course, Russo posted his GM of the Year story as Bettman was stepping to the podium, even before the NHL and Wild got their official tweets out.
GM of the Year announcement even got awkward
To make matters worse, there was some sort of confusion that caused the GM of the Year to awkwardly sit behind the commissioner on an enormous screen while Bettman ignored him and moved onto the next pick of the draft.
What the hell lol. I guess Bill Guerin was supposed to say something? Some confusion there. pic.twitter.com/qaU509rxBU
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) June 27, 2026
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