LAS VEGAS — Jake Guentzel will become a sought-after man on Monday if he declines the Carolina Hurricanes’ latest contract offer.
It’s no secret that teams will be lining up for the 29-year-old’s services if he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
New Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun on Wednesday that the Hurricanes are attempting to bring Guentzel back to Raleigh.
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“We’re trying very hard on that one,” Tulsky said.
Carolina has one advantage: The Hurricanes can offer Guentzel an eight-year deal because they were his most recent employer. The longest deal other teams can offer Guentzel is seven years.
That won’t stop them from trying.
There’s no question that Carolina is in the mix, but what if Tulsky and Guentzel’s agent, Ben Hankinson, can’t agree to a deal?
Other teams are lining up, one louder than the others.
The Vancouver Canucks are eager to sign Guentzel and have made moves in recent days to clear salary for it. The Canucks currently have around $12 million in cap space, already have 18 players signed on their roster for next season and have the flexibility to create more cap space if necessary. Team and league sources have confirmed Vancouver’s interest in Guentzel.
That comes as no surprise. The Pittsburgh ties in Vancouver are everywhere, from team president Jim Rutherford to general manager Patrick Allvin to coach Rick Tocchet and many others.
The Canucks were highly interested in Guentzel when the Penguins made him available via trade last season. However, they acquired Elias Lindholm before Guentzel became available, which kept them from making Penguins president/GM Kyle Dubas a reasonable offer for Guentzel.
Everything is different now, as the Canucks hold out hope that Guentzel will decide to head to the open market instead of Carolina. The Canucks would love to add Guentzel, a point-per-game player and one of the most prolific playoff goal scorers of his generation, to an already loaded top six that includes J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.
Guentzel was a major figure on the Penguins’ 2017 Stanley Cup team as a rookie, with Tocchet serving as an assistant coach on that team. Moreover, Guentzel has long been one of Rutherford’s favorites. The former Penguins general manager signed Guentzel to his most recent contract five years ago and has spoken affectionally — publicly and privately — about Guentzel for many years.
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The Canucks believe they have a Stanley Cup window for the next few years and think Guentzel is a player who can theoretically put them over the top.
Vancouver, of course, isn’t the only potential destination for Guentzel.
The New York Rangers are very eager for his services. They were bidding for Guentzel in March, when Dubas ultimately opted to do business with the Hurricanes. A Stanley Cup contender that reached the Eastern Conference final this past season, the Rangers are looking to clear salary space. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple and Peter Baugh report that the Rangers have asked captain Jacob Trouba for his 15-team no-trade list before Monday — largely in an attempt to persuade Guentzel to play the next several seasons in Manhattan.
Many other teams are interested in Guentzel, including the Chicago Blackhawks and the Dallas Stars. Guentzel’s representation expects to hear from several other teams come Monday, if he’s available.
What about the team that drafted him?
The Penguins, as things stand, couldn’t realistically offer Guentzel a contract. They have only around $10 million in cap space and, unlike the Canucks, who are pretty close to fielding an NHL roster already, the Penguins still have considerable work ahead simply to fill out their roster. They still must sign restricted free agent P-O Joseph, which will take away another small chunk of their salary space.
While Guentzel would be open to returning to Pittsburgh, the finances don’t add up.
Penguins tidbits
• Penguins and league sources continue to tell me that Dubas is willing to trade goaltender Tristan Jarry. It’s unclear if Dubas is actively dangling the goaltender or if he’s simply made it known to other teams that Jarry can be had for the right price. It’s becoming clear, however, that the goaltender is available and that the Penguins regret giving him a five-year deal last summer.
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Jarry fell out of favor late last season and was essentially supplanted by Alex Nedeljkovic as the team’s No. 1 goaltender when the Penguins made a late surge, nearly resulting in a playoff berth.
• Dubas would be willing to move other players off the Penguins’ roster in the name of freeing cap space. He’s very much open for business. Dumping salary is paramount if Dubas is to make significant changes to this roster. So far, he hasn’t found a dance partner.
This can all change very quickly, though. Teams tend to become more aggressive when the NHL Draft arrives, and in many cases, even more so when July 1 arrives. The salary cap is going up, and teams are looking to spend. The Penguins need to shed themselves of dead weight before they can spend.
The pressure is on Dubas to get creative and find ways to free money and subsequently make the Penguins’ roster more formidable over the next week.
• I’ve spoken with executives and other figures around the league, and the sense is that Dubas is in a tricky situation with the aging Penguins roster. Simply put, Dubas doesn’t have much in the way of leverage because so many of the Penguins have no-movement clauses. It’s no secret Dubas wants to change up this roster. How he’ll manage to go about doing so remains a juicy storyline between now and next week because there is no easy path.
• The Penguins have only six draft picks in Las Vegas this weekend and none in the first round. They’ll be attempting to add to their number of picks, even if accumulating a first-round pick seems unlikely. Given how few prospects the Penguins have in their system, Dubas would like to change that, too.
(Photo of Jake Guentzel: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
