Guerin is the son of a Nicaraguan mother and an American father, and he's regarded as the NHL's first player of Hispanic heritage. He's also a two-time Stanley Cup winner and was a member of the United States team that won the first World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

The native of Worcester, Massachusetts, excelled as a power forward for Springfield of the New England Junior Hockey League and was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the first round (No. 5) of the 1989 NHL Draft. After two seasons at Boston College and one with the United States National Team, culminating in an appearance at the 1992 Albertville Olympics, Guerin joined the Devils and made his NHL debut on Feb. 20, 1992.

He became an NHL regular in 1992-93, scored 25 goals in 1993-94, when New Jersey advanced to the Eastern Conference Final, and was part of the Devils' Stanley Cup-winning team in 1995. After scoring 23 goals and finishing with 53 points in 1995-96, Guerin was selected to play for the United States at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996; he had two assists in seven games to help the U.S. win the tournament. He also helped the United States win the silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and played in the 2006 Torino Olympics.

After scoring 29 goals in 1996-97, Guerin started slowly in 1997-98 and was traded to the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 4, 1998. He scored 30 goals for the first time in 1998-99, 24 in 1999-2000 and 12 in Edmonton's first 21 games in 2000-01 before being traded again, this time to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 15, 2000.

Guerin scored 28 goals in 64 games after the trade, giving him 40 for the season. He also won MVP honors at the 2001 NHL All-Star Game and finished with an NHL career-high 85 points. But after scoring 41 goals in 2001-02, Guerin became a free agent and signed with the Dallas Stars.

He played three seasons with the Stars, scoring 34 goals in 2003-04, split 2006-07 between the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks, then signed with the New York Islanders on July 5, 2007.

The Islanders named him captain, and he responded with 23 goals and 44 points in 2007-08. But with the Islanders on their way to a last-place finish in 2008-09, they traded Guerin to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 4, 2009. Three months later, he was a Stanley Cup champion for the second time after contributing 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 24 postseason games.

Guerin played one more season for the Penguins before announcing his retirement on Dec. 6, 2010. He ended his career with 856 points (429 goals, 427 assists) in 1,263 NHL games, as well as 74 points (39 goals, 35 assists) in 140 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He remained with the Penguins as a player development coach and assistant general manager, winning the Stanley Cup as an executive in 2016 and 2017, until being hired as GM by the Minnesota Wild on Aug. 21, 2019.