Mikko Koivu, who played 15 seasons with the Wild and was captain the past 11 seasons before Minnesota decided not to re-sign him following last season, signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 10.
"We'll name a new captain and we'll move forward," Guerin said. "Big shoes to fill, but my personal belief is it's an important position to fill and you just don't want to leave the team in limbo."
The NHL and the NHL Players' Association continue to target Jan. 1, 2021, as the start date for this season, but have not set a schedule or announced a start date for training camp.
Koivu was named the first full-time captain in Wild history on Oct. 20, 2009. Before that, Minnesota rotated the captaincy on a monthly basis.
The 37-year-old completed his Wild career as their leader in points (709), assists (504) and games (1,028), and his 205 goals are second in their history to Marian Gaborik's 219. Koivu's 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 59 Stanley Cup Playoff games rank second all-time for the Wild after Zach Parise's 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games.
Guerin didn't discuss specific candidates to replace Koivu as captain, but said, "There's some good guys here, some really good people here."
Parise, a forward, and defenseman Ryan Suter have been associate captains since each signed with Minnesota as an unrestricted free agent on July 4, 2012. Parise was captain of the New Jersey Devils in 2011-12.
Center Eric Staal was also an associate captain for the Wild three of the past four seasons, but was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for forward Marcus Johansson on Sept. 16.
Guerin also reiterated the Wild are not shopping defenseman Matt Dumba and are content to begin the season with him on their roster.
"I'm prepared to start the season with him, and we really like that," Guerin said. "He's a good young player. He's got good energy. I love his competitiveness. Our defensive corps, I'll out them up against anybody's.
There has been speculation Dumba will be traded since defenseman Jonas Brodin signed a seven-year, $42 million contract extension (average annual value $6 million) Sept. 16 because the Wild might not be able to protect him in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, when the Seattle Kraken will select their roster. Minnesota has Brodin, Suter and defenseman Jared Spurgeon under contract for at least five more seasons.
Dumba has three seasons left on a five-year, $30 million contract (average annual value $6 million) he agreed to with the Wild on July 21, 2018. The 26-year-old scored 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 69 games last season and one assist in four postseason games.
