Bill Guerin is beginning to look like a leading candidate -- maybe the leading candidate -- to succeed Paul Fenton as general manager in Minnesota.
A source close to Guerin confirmed that he had his second interview for the position today.
Michael Russo of The Athletic, citing unidentified sources, reported that Wild owner Craig Leopold, team president Matt Majka and Mike Modano, who will move into a role as "executive adviser" with Minnesota Sept. 1, conducted the interview.
Modano, a Hall of Fame player, was Guerin's teammate in Dallas.
Guerin was a member of the Penguins' Stanley Cup-winning team in 2009 and joined the front office in 2011 in a player-development role.
Three years later, he was promoted to a job as one of Jim Rutherford's assistant GMs, a position he has held ever since.
Recognizing young talent is regarded as one of Guerin's primary strengths and is a skill that has served him well in his role as GM of the Penguins' Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm team, duties he took on after Penguins associate GM Jason Botterill was named GM in Buffalo in 2017.
Guerin was a contender for the job in Minnesota during the summer of 2018, but was edged out by Fenton, who had had a long, successful run in Nashville's front office but whose performance with the Wild was widely panned.
Although Guerin is believed to be the only Wild candidate who has had multiple interviews for the current opening so far, there appear to be numerous contenders for the job.
One of Guerin's most formidable challenges could come from former Philadelphia goalie and GM Ron Hextall, who has been praised for his work in acquiring young talent for the Flyers and, before that, for Los Angeles.
Don Waddell, who held a scouting job with the Penguins during Ray Shero's tenure as GM, was in the mix for the Minnesota position until he re-signed as GM in Carolina a few days ago.
Others competing for the job Guerin is pursuing include Scott Mellanby, who is assistant GM in Montreal, former Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, ex-Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton and Mark Hunter, who did a stint as assistant GM in Toronto.
Tom Fitzgerald, the former Penguins assistant GM who now fills that role under Shero in New Jersey, reportedly was the runner-up to Fenton last summer, but it is not known if the Wild has sought permission to discuss the current opening with him.
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