Scoggins: Olympic hockey teams are full of star players. What if someone gets hurt?

Bill Guerin has a lot on his mind right now. Worst-case scenarios and things he cannot control are not among them.

Guerin could have easily pulled out a rabbit’s foot, tapped his knuckles on the table or stuck fingers in both ears and pretended he couldn’t hear when I visited his suite at Grand Casino Arena to discuss the Olympic tournament and the possibility that someone in the Wild’s large contingent of Olympians might return from Italy with an injury that disrupts the Wild’s good vibes.

None of those things happened.

Guerin treated that hypothetical topic in typical Guerin style.

“There’s nothing you can do about stuff like that,” he said. “There’s no sense worrying about it.”

Nobody enjoys a Debbie Downer, but NHL organizations find themselves in a tough position with the Olympics. Especially a team like the one Guerin manages as president of hockey operations.

The Wild awoke Tuesday, Feb. 3, with the second-most points in the NHL, trailing only Colorado. This is the most skilled and talented Wild team since it became a franchise.

The Wild are sending eight players to the Olympics, which is second-most among NHL teams behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning.

These are cornerstone players. Hughes. Boldy. Brock Faber. Joel Eriksson Ek. Both goalies, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.

The ideal scenario is for the Olympics to provide high-level, fiercely contested, riveting competition … and that everyone returns injury-free and ready to resume a final push to the NHL postseason.

“The thing you don’t want to do is tiptoe around,” Guerin said. “You have to go out and play hard.”

The Wild contingent could have been even larger and more impactful. Kaprizov isn’t participating because Russia remains banned from international hockey as fallout from its invasion of Ukraine.

“He wasn’t going to get any better without it,” Guerin said. “It’s just one of those things that has been nagging him for a long time. Just had to get it fixed.”

Guerin understands the delicate dance as well as anyone. He was a three-time Olympian as a player. Athletes dream of representing their country on the Olympic stage.

NHL organizations pay player salaries as employers, so they are impacted more than anyone if injuries occur. That’s the risk of pausing a season. Nobody wants to trample over national pride and the experience of a lifetime.

“These guys have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Guerin, who also serves as general manager of Team USA. “They’re all really excited. This is special.”

This is the first Olympics with NHL players since 2014 in Sochi, Russia. I covered those Games for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Team USA’s 3-2 victory against Russia in a shootout in the preliminary round still stands as a Top 5 moment for me in more than three decades as a professional sportswriter.

The teams provided dazzling theater, capped by T.J. Oshie’s one-man shootout. The pride of Warroad took six shootout attempts in eight rounds, including the winner.

Said Team USA’s Joe Pavelski afterward: “As a player, you want to play in something this. That’s a big show out there.”

Said Russian coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov: “I was in, what I would call, a working ecstasy.”

Perfect synopsis of what the Olympic experience means to those involved.

Guerin leaves for Italy on Thursday, Feb. 5, with a full plate of responsibilities. He will help guide Team USA’s roster decisions while also reflecting on the Wild’s roster makeup with the NHL trade deadline set for March 6.

Asked if he will be thinking about the Wild during the Olympics, Guerin said: “Yeah, of course I will. I always do. I can compartmentalize pretty well.”