Bill Guerin didn’t wait long to answer Paul Bissonnette.
After Bissonnette went on Spittin’ Chiclets and called his shot with what he described as his “hot take of the century” - that the Minnesota Wild would miss the 2026-27 playoffs - Guerin got his chance to respond on national TV Friday night during the Wild’s 2-1 preseason loss to the Dallas Stars.
The exchange came in the TNT booth when longtime NHL announcer John Forslund brought up the clip and asked Guerin if he had seen it. Guerin had, and he wasted no time firing back.
“Is that the guy that does all the goofy stuff? … I’ve heard of him.
He wears a shirt unbuttoned to here?” Guerin said, pointing at his shirt buttons.
Forslund replied, “Usually.”
Guerin then delivered the line of the night: “Usually it takes somebody that’s been in the playoffs to comment on playoffs. Yeah.
I guess he could say what he wants for his clicks and everything like that, but we got 84 games to prove him wrong. Coming for you, Biz.”
Bissonnette’s take had been rooted in the idea that Minnesota is thin down the middle and could run into trouble if the Quinn Hughes storyline keeps hanging over the team. On the podcast, he said, “You want my hot take of the century? … I think the Wild are gonna miss the playoffs.”
Ryan Whitney pushed back hard, pointing to Minnesota’s talent and calling the prediction ridiculous. Biz doubled down anyway, saying, “Because I think that they’re gonna get off to a little bit of a tough start.
And I think that the Quinn Hughes noise is gonna get loud. What are they gonna do, dude?
They have Eriksson Ek at center ice? Who the f*** are their other centermen?
Hartman might play center. I just think it’s a strong division.
It’s a strong conference. I think that they’re riding the high of last year, and now they got this daunting storyline coming in that Quinn Hughes wants nothing to do with them.
He’s a f***ing Quinn-chenko.”
Whitney wasn’t having it. He pointed to Boldy, Kaprizov and what he called “maybe the best top four in the league in Quinn Hughes, Faber, Brodin and Spurgeon.”
He also said, “You guys are gonna look like idiots when they’re 10-3 out of the gate, and then the city’s rocking and Quinn Hughes signs an extension. You guys are idiots.”
Bissonnette’s playoff résumé is part of why Guerin’s jab landed so cleanly. Biz played 202 regular-season games, scored seven goals and finished with 22 points. In the playoffs, he appeared in four games, all with Phoenix, over two postseason trips, with zero points and 15 penalty minutes.
Guerin’s credentials were a much different story. He played 1,263 regular-season games, scored 429 goals and had 856 points.
In the playoffs, he appeared in 140 games across 15 different postseason runs, scoring 39 goals and posting 74 points. He also won two Stanley Cups, with New Jersey in 1995 and Pittsburgh in 2009.
Bissonnette took the shot in stride on X, while insisting he did play in the playoffs.
“You son of a bitch Billy 🤣🤣🤣. I played in NHL playoffs though, that’s false information from Billy G. Someone has to have the shift I played somewhere.”
For now, the debate gets settled on the ice. The Wild open the regular season Thursday in Nashville.
In Other News...
Wild Face Anxious Brock Faber Wait Right Before Opening Night
Brock Fabers preseason took an uneasy turn against the Dallas Stars when the Wild defenseman left with a head injury and did not come back for the third period. With Minnesota inching toward the regular season opener on Oct. 1, the timing is hardly ideal for a team trying to settle its lineup and build momentum before the games start to count.
John Hynes said Faber is being considered day-to-day while the club continues to evaluate him further, which at least leaves some room for optimism. Even so, any head injury this close to opening night adds a layer of anxiety for a player the Wild lean on heavily, and it leaves the team watching closely as the final preseason days tick away. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Blue-Line Concern Just Got Harder To Ignore Before Opening Night
The Wild spent the summer leaving their blue line largely intact, but the early roster moves have already made that choice look more precarious. Waiving 2021 first-round pick Carson Lambos trimmed another option from the defensive picture just as Minnesota heads toward its season opener with the top of the group mostly settled and the back end still carrying some uncertainty.
Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon remain the names that matter most in that conversation, because any lingering injury concern around either one can ripple quickly through the rest of the defense. With few notable changes made over the offseason, the departure of Lambos only sharpens the sense that the Wild are leaning on a thin cushion, and the question now is how much margin they really have if the opening-night lineup starts to shift. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Sent A Clear Message In Heated Finish Vs. Wild
The Wild wrapped up preseason play with a 2-1 loss to the Stars, and the night offered a little bit of everything: a start in goal for Jesper Wallstedt, a look at where backup Riley Mercer stands as the regular season approaches, and another encouraging showing from several new faces. Blake Coleman, Maxim Shabanov and Olli Mtt all flashed in ways that should give Minnesota some comfort as it moves toward opening night, with John Hynes specifically praising Shabanovs feel on the power play.
Then came the kind of finish that tends to linger longer than the final score. The game tightened into a chippy, heated ending, and multiple fights broke out with entire lines from both teams involved, a clear sign that the Stars were willing to turn the temperature up at the end of a preseason meeting. For Minnesota, it was a reminder that even a tune-up can carry a little extra edge when the opponent decides to make a point. [Read more 🡒]