The Pittsburgh Penguins traded winger Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, sending the top forward available at the NHL trade deadline to a division rival.
The Penguins traded Guentzel and defenseman Ty Smith to Carolina for forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Cruz Lucius and Vasily Ponomarev, the Hurricanes' conditional first-round pick in 2024 and their conditional fifth-round pick in 2024.
Pittsburgh retained 25% of Guentzel's $6 million cap hit.
“Jake is an elite scorer and playmaker who has produced at a high level throughout his entire NHL career,” Carolina general manager Don Waddell said. “Ty is a young, offensive-minded defenseman who will give us another reliable option on the blue line. We are thrilled to bolster our lineup as we compete to bring the Stanley Cup back to Raleigh.”
The Penguins will receive Carolina's first-round pick if the Hurricanes reach the Stanley Cup Final this season. If they don't, the first round pick becomes the Philadelphia Flyers' second-round pick, which was previously acquired by the Hurricanes in the Tony DeAngelo trade in 2022. Pittsburgh will receive Carolina's fifth-round pick if the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup. this season.
Guentzel, 29, is considered the best forward available ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline. He has 52 points in 50 games this season, including 22 goals. He hasn't played since Feb. 14 due to an upper-body injury, but has returned to skating.
Guentzel has 466 points in 503 career games during his eight seasons with the Penguins. He has been Sidney Crosby's primary winger for much of that time.
“He did everything he could while he was here,” said Crosby, who won a Stanley Cup with Guentzel in 2017. “It's a privilege to play with him during that time. Great memories and that's all I can say.” “
Guentzel is an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Hurricanes did not engage in contract talks with him before the trade.
Due to his age and what he is expected to make on his next contract, the Penguins opted to purchase Guentzel at the deadline with an eye toward a rebuild for the veteran team. General manager Kyle Dubas recently said that while Guentzel has been an integral part of the team, “one of the problems we have is we need to be younger.”
“The trade deadline is always tough,” Crosby said.
Ponomarev, 21, is a center currently playing in the AHL. Koivunen, 20, is a skilled offensive player for Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. Lucius, 19, is a goal-scoring winger for the University of Wisconsin.
Bunting, a five-year NHL veteran, was held out of Carolina's game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night for “trade-related reasons,” according to the team. The trade reunites him with Dubas, who signed him as a free agent when both were with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It's tough. It's not normal,” Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei said of Bunting's scratch before the trade. “You go through this every year, but it's a different feeling in the locker room when you see one of your teammates go out of nowhere.”
The Hurricanes had been looking for a scoring winger at the end of the deadline. They also wanted to add an impact postseason player. Guentzel won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2017 and has earned a reputation as a clutch playoff player, with 58 points in 58 career playoff games, including 34 goals.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
