We are swiftly approaching the departure of Jake Guentzel as a Pittsburgh Penguin. It is very likely he will be dealt by the end of the day today. He will have played in 503 games in a Penguins uniform scoring 219 times with 466 total points. He led the playoffs in scoring in 2017 with 13 goals on the way to capturing a Stanley Cup. He scored his first goal on his first shot on his first shift against Henrik Lundqvist.
Guentzel has been a tremendous player for the Penguins. I am really bummed it got to this point. Guentzel has been one of my favorite Penguins of era. He was so gifted with how he sees the ice and using hockey IQ to make plays, create space, and contribute to high-danger chances. His physical skill is crafty and slick. I'm going to miss watching him on a nightly basis.
As for the trade market we’ve seen the Golden Knights trade for Anthony Mantha and Vladimir Tarasenko head to the Florida Panthers, two teams who were reportedly in on Guentzel. While this takes away from a potential bidding war it also has taken two scoring winger options off of the market which might make the remaining teams press harder for a shrinking asset pool. One of those teams is the Vancouver Canucks
This checks out. You have Jim Rutherford and Rick Tocchet in Vancouver who know exactly how good Guentzel is. They have a personal attachment to the player and Rutherford always has the appetite to make big trades. Add the Canucks 1033 league leading PDO to the equation and you have a perfect storm for the Penguins to maximize their return on Guentzel in a Vancouver trade.
It is important to remember Rutherford will pay extra to get what he wants. He talked about trying to make trades “fair” which rightly annoyed Penguins fans at the time. In this situation it may come around to be beneficial to the Penguins. It is a lot like the Jordan Staal trade from 2012 where the Penguins got very good value netting the #8 overall pick (great value, used poorly), Brian Dumoulin (very good), and Brandon Sutter (not good). The Penguins received that for a player who was openly going to sign in Carolina once his contract ended the next year.
So at this stage the Canucks seem like the best opportunity for the Penguins to get value in return for Guentzel. When Rutherford fixates on a player he usually gets them. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading!
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