Canucks lose out on Guentzel, Penguins trade him to another team
Jake Guentzel isn’t coming to Vancouver, as the Canucks have lost the Guentzel sweepstakes.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes as part of a six-player trade that also involves two draft picks. Guentzel and defenceman Ty Smith are headed to Carolina in exchange for Michael Bunting, three prospects (Cruz Lucius, Vasily Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen), and two draft picks (conditional second-round pick, conditional fifth-round pick).
Pittsburgh will also retain 25% of Guentzel’s $6 million salary.
The deal that's bringing Jake Guentzel to Raleigh ⬇️
Details » https://t.co/EqRzlG9Gzo pic.twitter.com/kAGNRy2Qt2
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 8, 2024
Bunting of course is well-known to Penguins president of hockey operations and GM Kyle Dubas, who had the former Maple Leafs winger in Toronto.
The Canucks had rumoured interest in Guentzel and were reportedly one of the finalists to get him. Guentzel wasn’t going to come cheap, though, with the Penguins reportedly asking for one of Vancouver’s top prospects (Tom Willander or Jonathan Lekkerimäki), plus more.
Guentzel, a pending unrestricted free agent, was the top forward available. The 29-year-old has 466 career points in 503 regular season games, and is a point-a-game player in the postseason, with 58 points in 58 playoff games. The 5-foot-11 winger has 52 points (22-30-52) in 50 games in Pittsburgh this season.
With Guentzel off the market, Vancouver will turn to Plan B, which could be former Canuck Tyler Toffoli from the New Jersey Devils.
Jason Zucker, from the Arizona Coyotes, is also a name that has been linked to the Canucks. Zucker, like Guentzel, has ties to Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin from his time with the Penguins.
The Canucks are searching for an upgrade on Elias Pettersson’s wing ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
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