Bill Guerin's bet on Gustav Nyquist paying off in playoffs

I want Bill Guerin with me at the card table.

Guerin has made a handful of key moves in his relatively short time running the Wild. He might have been at his card-counting finest with his acquisition of an injured Gustav Nyquist, a gamble that is paying immediate dividends for the Wild, now leading Dallas 2-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Sunday.

A number of players contributed to their 5-1 victory over the Stars on Friday. Nyquist added an assist on Marcus Foligno's deflected goal that put them ahead 3-1 in the second period.

That's four assists in three games in the series for the veteran center.

It's also nine points in six career games with the Wild.

Blackjack.

Nyquist is a playmaker, a facilitator. The kind of player they need in the postseason. Especially when the Stars are paying close attention to Kirill Kaprizov, who had just one shot on net Friday. Someone has to step into the breach, and Nyquist, who has now played in 68 career playoff games, has been one of Kaprizov's teammates to do so.

Guerin bet on Nyquist recovering from a shoulder injury in time to help in the postseason. Nyquist, 33 and with three 30-assist seasons in his career, is on an expiring contract and is helping his free-agent value. Right now, both sides are winning.

"[Wild assistant] Brett McLean just said that he's just a hockey player," Wild coach Dean Evason said.

Which is a compliment to how Nyquist contributes all over the ice. Nothing like adding a complete, motivated player to a playoff team.

In February, Guerin worked a three-team deal with Washington and Boston, acquiring Dmitry Orlov from Washington then sending him to Boston for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft. As the trade deadline approached later that month, Guerin dealt for Nyquist — sending Columbus the fifth-round pick he acquired earlier that month.

Nyquist basically cost the Wild nothing — except the $689,000 they retained from Orlov's contract.

This for a player who was out because of a shoulder injury that was initially expected to shelve him for the remainder of the regular season. It was a calculated gamble by Guerin that Nyquist would get healthy and be an asset. Nyquist played the final three regular-season games, scoring a goal with four assists. Now he's paying off in the playoffs.

On Friday, Nyquist set up the Wild's third goal with a shot from the left faceoff circle that was tipped in by Foligno. Replays had to confirm that Foligno wasn't guilty of playing the puck with a high stick. He wasn't.

For Nyquist, he became the first player in Wild history to pick up a point in each of his first three playoff games with the team. And the Wild were on their way to victory on a night in which the sellout crowd of 19,309 was proud to be loud, jeering former Wild defenseman Ryan Suter with vacuum cleaner references and singing "Living on a Prayer" well after it was turned off.

More energy is expected on Sunday when the Twins' Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa lead the "Let's play hockey!" cheer. Some fans might see Buxton and cheer, "Let's play center field!"

One setback in his recovery and Nyquist is not a part of this series. The Wild had to be convinced that Nyquist was going to be ready. He did his part.

"Sure, we knew what we were getting, we've seen him, we've watched him, the stats you can look at and all that kind of stuff," Evason said. "But you didn't know how he competed and how he was on all areas of the ice defensively, offensively, his calmness. He's a pro. Yeah, he's been a real nice addition for us for sure."

Nyquist has been worth the wait.

And he's definitely worth the price.

A more than reasonable return for a reasonable fee.