Despite a strong stretch to finish the season, the Minnesota Wild again found themselves defeated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after six games against the Dallas Stars.
To discuss the team’s season and their future, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin joined News Talk 830 WCCO’s Chad Hartman.
During his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday, Guerin got into a bit of a heated exchange with reporters about the team’s continued loss in the first round.
Guerin maintained that the season was not a failure and that getting to the second round is not his team’s goal, winning the Stanley Cup is, and he says this season was a stepping stone in that direction.
Nonetheless, with everything said and done, the general manager shared that he finds himself “cranky.”
“To be honest with you… I am cranky. I’m pissed off. I am frustrated. I’m not happy that we lost,” Guerin said.
While he isn’t happy with the season’s conclusion, Guerin says he has to be realistic about what he and his team are building.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Guerin brought up the team’s cap space issue, a point he has rarely addressed since he decided to buy out the remainder of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise’s contracts two offseasons ago. That decision now restricts Guerin by more than $14 million in spending power this season.
Despite this, Guerin finds himself proud of what his team accomplished this year.
“I just want to be crystal clear on what we’re dealing with,” he said. “Yeah, it’s kind of like you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back, but look what our players and coaches did with that burden.”
Guerin pointed out that his team’s regular season success far outshined other teams in the league that he said “have way bigger payrolls” than his club.
“So that’s why I said it’s not a failure. It’s not a failure. It’s very disappointing though,” Guerin said.
When asked about the cap and his decision to buy out Parise and Suter, despite their production for other NHL teams this season, Guerin said, “It was time to move on,” while sidestepping a question about their locker room chemistry and actions behind the scenes.
As for players still with the Wild, many have been critical of the play from the team’s stars, and Guerin shared that the low postseason production from players like Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov is among the “things they are trying to figure out.”
“Listen, nobody is more disappointed in that than they are,” Guerin said. “I’ve sat in their shoes. I’ve had bad playoffs. It hurts. It stinks.”
Much remains up in the air this offseason, as the team has around $8 million in cap space and several players who either need new contracts or have to be let go.
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