Bill Guerin was named general manager of the United States men’s teams that will compete in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics.
The 53-year-old native of Worcester, Massachusetts, is in his fifth season as GM of the Minnesota Wild after five as an assistant GM for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He helped build the Penguins teams that won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, and as a player won it twice with the New Jersey Devils in 1995 and the Penguins in 2009.
Guerin will help shape the rosters for the United States in the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off and Milano-Cortina Olympics, which will mark the return of NHL players for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
“It’s an honor beyond belief to be asked to do this and I couldn’t say yes quick enough,” Guerin said. “I am so thankful to USA Hockey for this opportunity, and also appreciate the support of (Wild owner) Craig (Leipold) and the Wild organization. I’ve been fortunate to have many great days in hockey and this is among the very best.”
The in-season 4 Nations Face-Off is a best-on-best tournament with the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden competing from Feb. 12-20. They will play seven games during a nine-day period in yet-to-be-named cities in North America, one in the U.S. and one in Canada.
The Milano-Cortina Olympics will be Guerin’s second stint as GM for the United States. He took the job after then-Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman stepped down from the role Oct. 26, 2021, following an independent investigation of former Chicago player Kyle Beach’s allegations of sexual assault by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.
“We’re excited to have Bill leading efforts to build our teams,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “He was obviously an extraordinary player and has gone on to become an accomplished executive in the NHL It’s no secret there’s a lot of excitement around NHL players returning to the Olympics and also for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and we’re thankful to have the passion Bill brings to Team USA.”
The United States finished fifth and Canada sixth at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where Finland won the gold medal, the Russian Olympic Committee silver and Slovakia bronze.
Guerin played in three Olympics (Nagano, 1998; Salt Lake City, 2002; Torino, 2006). The 2002 team won silver with Guerin scoring four goals in six games. He had eight points (five goals, three assists) in 16 total games.
The No. 5 pick by New Jersey in the 1989 NHL Draft, Guerin had 856 points (429 goals, 427 assists) in 1,263 regular-season games as a forward for the Devils, Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders. He had 74 points (39 goals, 35 assists) in 140 Stanley Cup Playoff games and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.
“With the NHL asking the competing teams to name their first six players for the NHL 4 Nations Face-off early this summer, it was important for us to name a general manager and we couldn’t be happier to have Bill engaged for both that event and the Olympics,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “He brings the same level of competitiveness to his role as a general manager as he did as a player on the ice and that’s a real benefit.”
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