Jake Guentzel was one of the biggest prizes at this year’s deadline. With the forward entering the final year of his deal, and the Penguins going in the wrong direction, it was a foregone conclusion he was going to be moved. It also helps that the Penguins could get a haul for him. That haul would come from the Hurricanes who gave up four players, a first, and a fifth-round pick. It was a steep price.
Although the Canes had little cap space, they plan to make Guentzel a priority. They were even allowing several key players to walk in free agency. That makes sense considering the haul they gave up to get him. However, as we get closer to the start of free agency, the Hurricanes have changed their tune. The rumors are that Carolina is shopping Guentzel UFA rights for a mid-round pick. However, is this the right course of action for the Hurricanes?
Pros of Moving Guentzel
The biggest reason for Guentzel is his price tag. Back in the 2019 offseason, Guentzel signed a five-year deal with an AAV of six million. The six million AAV will be the starting point for contract negotiations. His numbers only improved while under this contract so he won’t take anything less. Honestly, his contract will probably have an AAV of anywhere between eight and ten million. Sure, the Canes have $23 million in cap space, but do they want to spend half of it on one player?
The Hurricanes have a lot of experienced contracts. Including Guentzel, there are seven unrestricted free agents. Some important team members guys like Jordan Martinook, Brett Pesce, Stefan Noesen, and Brady Skjei are all set to hit the open market. That doesn’t even include the five restricted free agents they’ll have to deal with. Sure, four of them are arbitration-eligible, but they still will eat a chunk of the cap too. If they give Guentzel that big deal, they have to find cheaper less effective options to replace them.
Cons of Moving Him
The biggest con for trading Guentzel is the return the Hurricanes will get for him. As mentioned earlier, the Canes are only expecting to get a mid-round pick for him. Nowhere near the amount they gave up for him. They moved three prospects and a first-round pick. Not to mention an NHL-caliber player in Michael Bunting. All of that to get 17 games and only one playoff-round win isn’t nearly enough to justify that type of package.
You would also be breaking up potentially one of the most explosive lines in the NHL. Playing Guentzel alongside guys like Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov has the potential to be unstoppable. It’s the kind of line that any team would kill to have. The three of them combined for 218 points, 85 goals and 133 assists. Sure, that’s all their statistics combined since these guys only played a handful of games together. However, give them a full season under their belt and they hit somewhere close to those numbers at the very least. That will make up for what they’ll lose to keep him.
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