Wild rebounded from early slump, then Bill Guerin added a superstar to the mix

The Wild were a shell of themselves, and Bill Guerin was looking to make a change.

They were leaky on defense and sporadic on offense. They lost blowouts, nail-biters, you name it. At Halloween, they were in position to possibly nab a top-five draft pick.

It was bad. Real bad.

“There’s always a freak year,” Guerin said, “and I didn’t know if this possibly was just going to be that because I couldn’t put my finger on it.”

Still, the Wild’s president of hockey operations searched for a solution in the form of a trade to try to spark the team.

But when he was ready to finalize a deal, maybe the other side wasn’t. There were also times Guerin pulled the plug.

“I better take a step back before I do something stupid,” he recalled saying.

The Wild didn’t need it.

“They took care of it before I could,” Guerin said.

Instead, what the Wild got was an unequivocal endorsement of their potential with the trade that did come to fruition, the Dec. 12 acquisition of superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from Vancouver that stunned the hockey world and solidified the Wild as a contender.

“I give our coaches and our players tons of credit for turning this thing around,” Guerin said, “because I know they all put serious work and commitment [in]. They refocused. They restarted and got it together.

“I’m really impressed by them, and I’m grateful, too, because it was miserable, and now it’s a lot of fun. I can see the fun that these guys are having, and that’s good because it’s supposed to be fun. It has to be.”

They are 4-1-1 since integrating Hughes into their lineup — and 7-1-1 in their past nine overall — to rank third in the NHL and Central Division at 22-10-6. This is the first time in franchise history the Wild have gone into the holiday break with 50 points. They have also sold out every home game since making the Hughes trade after three sellouts prior, one of which was the day after Thanksgiving.

Even if the Wild hadn’t recovered from a putrid start, going 3-6-3 in October and a dominating 19-4-4 since, Guerin would still have traded for Hughes, who cost the Wild Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a first-round draft pick.

“No matter what,” Guerin said, “just because it’s very rare to get players like this.”

But there’s a difference in Hughes arriving as a lifesaver or as icing on the cake.

The Wild were rolling before he joined their blue line, and they still have most of the league chasing them — just now with a Norris Trophy winner running their power play, leading the attack out of their zone and shutting down the opposition alongside Brock Faber, a possible duo for the United States at the Olympics in February.

“They have the ability to be a very, very good ‘D’ pair.”

The opportunity to add a player like Hughes, especially in-season, might come along once in a blue moon, but Guerin continues to try to improve the Wild, who could still bolster their forward group (particularly at center after losing Rossi).

They should have flexibility before the March 6 trade deadline, although the rash of recent injuries impacted their ability to accrue salary-cap space; at one point, they had seven regulars sidelined. But the Wild should have everyone available once they’re back in action at Winnipeg on Saturday, Dec. 27.

“It hurts your lineup,” Guerin said of the injuries. “It hurts your flow. It hurts your cap space. It hurts everything.”

As good as the Wild have been, there is still plenty at stake in the standings.

Three Central teams pacing the league has ignited criticism for the NHL’s playoff format, which is division-based as opposed to conference seeding; one of the three would be eliminated in the first round if they remain huddled at the top.

“That’s the way it is,” Guerin said, “and it’s a difficult road to the Stanley Cup no matter what. You never go into a playoff series, ‘Oh, this is going to be a cakewalk.’

“It’s always going to be hard. You always prepare for seven games. You always prepare for a battle. It doesn’t really matter. You play who you play.”

Although they took the scenic route to get there, the Wild are among the league leaders just like they were a year ago.

They didn’t stay there last season, instead falling to a wild-card berth before losing to Vegas in the first round, but that they keep climbing their way back is no small feat.