By: Chris Nosek
Bill Guerin aced the trade deadline by acquiring Quinn Hughes on December 12th. This deal was done with significant time left in this season, and while Hughes has another season on his contract. The deal itself was extremely fair as he gave up Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium, and the teams 1st-round pick in the 2026 draft. Once that move was made, it was clear that Guerin would continue to look for ways to improve this team.
Guerin also brought in Michael McCarron, Jeff Petry, Nick Foligno, and Bobby Brink. The net losses to bring those guys in were a 7th-round draft pick in 2026, a 2nd-round draft pick in 2028, and David Jiricek. The biggest loss, Jiriceck, was the 6th overall draft pick (selected by Columbus) back in 2022, and cracking the lineup has been difficult for him. The right side of the blue line is fine with Faber, Spurgeon, and Bogosian, so moving Jiricek for a young player who can make plays and add depth up front is a good move.
It’s clear that Guerin was trying to acquire a center to build the depth down the middle. They were linked to several centers. However, the prices to acquire players were extremely high. So getting McCarron for a 2nd-round pick in a draft that is in three years was an incredible value. McCarron will slide in and provide great physicality with a scoring touch.
Guerin was able to get great value at the trade deadline, when prices were very high across the board. He also pulled off the biggest deal of the season and acquired one of the best players in the league. The worse thing he did was only acquire “future considerations” for sending Vinnie Hinostroza for Florida. It’s probably what they’ll send to Chicago to finalize the Nick Foligno acquistion.
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