The Tampa Bay Lightning have made a big move to acquire Jake Guentzel. In return, the Carolina Hurricanes, who picked up Guentzel at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins, have received a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. At this time, there is no news on whether or not he will re-sign an extension with Tampa, but you have to think it is likely. However, you’d also have to think Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois must have been preparing for a move like this one, with the idea to sign Guentzel. It is suspected pending UFA Steven Stamkos is testing the open market tomorrow. Moreover, BriseBois traded a lot of salary in Mikhail Sergachev trade to Utah and Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings over the past couple days, to make it a possibility.
Latest addition coming to Tampa!
We have acquired forward Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
: https://t.co/BikEioWds1 pic.twitter.com/jG228tSAqA
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 30, 2024
Jake Guentzel is Traded to the Lightning
The Hurricanes went off course during the trade deadline and picked up Jake Guentzel. He was and still is set to be a UFA July 1st, or tomorrow as it would be now. Today and Guentzel has been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, in exchange for a third-round pick in 2025. This is a huge move to acquire Guentzel, as he has proven over his career to be a game-changing, elite offensive talent. He was drafted in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Guentzel shot up the ranks in Pittsburgh and spent much time on the first line on Sidney Crosby‘s wing.
Over his eight-year NHL career with the Penguins, Guentzel put up 219 goals and 247 assists in 503 regular season games. But as good as Guentzel was during the regular season, he was arguably even better in the playoffs. In 58 playoff games with Pittsburgh he put up 58 points that included 34 goals. He had a knack for scoring big goals and helped the Penguins win a Stanley Cup in 2016-17. Since he was set to become a free agent after the 2023-24 season, Pitsburgh decided to move him at the trade deadline. Carolina, in search for a game changing goal scorer, decided to pounce on the opportunity. They acquired Guentzel for Michael Bunting, a handful of prospects and a few conditional picks.
What This Means
For Guentzel, this trade means Tampa is looking to remain a perennial, Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future. While 29 years old, Guentzel is looking at the back half of his career.
For the team, Guentzel provides the exact qualities described above. An elite offensive talent with an ability to change the game. It also shows that the team is committed to winning now and is willing to pay for it. While you never know what the future may hold, Guentzel should certainly help this team immensely up front.
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
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