The trade involving Jake Guentzel was finalized last night after the Carolina Hurricanes lost to the New York Rangers in game six. Consequently, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be receiving the 44th overall pick (second-round) from the Philadelphia Flyers and will not be getting a fifth-round pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft.
While the Penguins would have preferred to obtain their conditional picks, they still came out ahead in the deal. Not only did they acquire an impactful player in Michael Bunting with two years left on his team-friendly contract, but they also acquired two promising prospects in Vasily Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen who could potentially contribute to the NHL as early as next season. Additionally, they added Cruz Lucius, a mid-tier prospect, and a second-round pick.
In return, the Penguins parted ways with Ty Smith, whom they deemed expendable following the arrival of Erik Karlsson and a second-round exit from the playoffs.
Guentzel performed admirably for the Hurricanes, tallying 34 points in 28 games, including the postseason. However, despite his efforts, the Hurricanes fell short against the Rangers, failing to advance to the conference finals, let alone the Stanley Cup Final.
The Penguins weren’t in a position to re-sign Guentzel or make a playoff push, so Dubas managed to secure a significant return for the impending free agent, particularly in what was considered a buyer’s market at the deadline.
While Dubas experienced both successes and failures in his inaugural season with the Penguins, the Guentzel trade unequivocally falls into the former category.
