Bill Guerin’s name still carries weight in New Jersey, and for good reason. Long before he became the general manager of the Minnesota Wild, he was a major piece for the Devils in the 1990s - a player who arrived as a top draft pick, helped win a Stanley Cup, and built a career that stretched far beyond his years in Newark.
The Devils took Guerin with the 5th overall pick in the 1989 NHL Draft out of Boston College, and that choice paid off. He ended up playing parts of seven seasons in New Jersey, including 1995, when the Devils won the Stanley Cup. In 380 games with the team, Guerin put up 108 goals, 106 assists, and 214 points.
That production came on a Devils team known for winning with structure and defense, a group that leaned on its ability to keep opponents quiet and still find enough offense to get the job done. Guerin fit into that formula and helped them rack up victories during that stretch.
New Jersey moved him on January 4th, 1998, sending him to the Edmonton Oilers in a trade that brought back Jason Arnott and Bryan Muir. Arnott, of course, later scored the overtime goal that won the Stanley Cup in 2000.
Guerin spent four years in Edmonton before that run ended in 2001, then continued his career with the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, and Pittsburgh Penguins. His final stop came with Pittsburgh in 2009, when the Penguins acquired him ahead of the trade deadline and went on to win the Stanley Cup that spring.
By the time his playing career wrapped up one year later, Guerin had collected two Stanley Cup rings, along with 429 goals, 427 assists, and 856 points in 1,263 games. His points-per-game numbers climbed after he left New Jersey, which lines up with the fact that the Devils were a defense-first “trap” team during his time there, while his later teams leaned a little more toward his offensive game.
Now, in 2026, Guerin is back in the conversation for Devils fans for a different reason. He has a decision to make about his star defenseman in Minnesota, Quinn Hughes, and there is speculation that Hughes would like to team up one day with his two younger brothers, who are part of the modern-day Devils core.
Earlier this summer, it looked like Quinn would stay with Guerin in Minnesota, but that feeling has faded with each passing day. Whether Quinn Hughes and Bill Guerin will end up sharing a Devils connection in the future remains to be seen, but Guerin’s impact on New Jersey hockey is already established.
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The intrigue now is whether Mantha can bring that production to New Jersey in a way that actually sticks. The Devils are betting he can keep scoring at a strong pace while handling the demands of a bigger role, even with the lingering questions that have followed him about durability and whether last season was the kind of peak he can sustain. If he clicks quickly, the ripple effect on the offense could be immediate. [Read more 🡒]