David Pagnotta of The NHL Network tweeted that he has heard that the Pittsburgh Penguins and winger Jake Guentzel have talked about a contract extension, but they are not close to an agreement. Pagnotta followed that up with another tweet adding that he has been told by sources that the two sides may shelve contract negotiations until after the season.
The 29-year-old is set to play out the final year of his five-year $30MM contract and will be due a big raise if he performs anywhere close to his historical averages. Guentzel is coming off back-to-back 35+ goal seasons and has averaged nearly a point a game since breaking into the league in November 2016. The knock-on Guentzel has always been that he puts up elite numbers because he plays with Sidney Crosby, but there has never been another player able to duplicate the kind of success Guentzel has had on Crosby’s line. Chris Kunitz was Crosby’s linemate for nearly a decade and posted just two seasons with more than 60 points, while Guentzel has topped 70 points three times in the last five years. Guentzel is sometimes the forgotten star in Pittsburgh playing behind Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and now Erik Karlsson. But, without the Omaha, Nebraska native in 2017, the Penguins probably don’t repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
The Penguins are in a bit of a curious spot this season as they are firmly committed to an older core of players but could find themselves with a ton of cap space next summer if they don’t sign any of their pending free agents. One might wonder if the Penguins are waiting to see if any impact free agents go to unrestricted free agency next summer before they decide whether to sign their own impact free agent.
From Guentzel’s perspective, he has earned the right to test the free agent market and might worry about the Penguins’ future when Crosby, Letang and Malkin retire, which could be sooner than later. Guentzel would likely fetch a seven- or eight-year deal. Given the ages of the aforementioned players, Guentzel’s final years in Pittsburgh could be on a rebuilding team if he elects to re-sign with the team long-term.
I know he scored (and played well) but I still think we have to get Rust off of Sid’s line. Teams have a scouting report a mile long on that line and can shut it down when they need to do so.
Find a winger (Zohora?) for Geno, get Rakell on Sid’s line and send out a DOC- Eller – Rust third line that might actually score some goals.
Zahorna is not a scoring line winger. They really don’t have anyone to fill in in the top six. It’s a real problem if they have injuries.
Agreed.
The biggest determination of the Penguins window slamming shut or staying open is how O’Connor, Poulin, and Nylander perform/develop this season.
None of them are stars, but if O’Connor takes a jump in performance like Rust did around the same age and becomes a legit middle 6 player capable of 40+ point seasons, Poulin starts to look like the top prospect he once was and a legit middle 6 Center, and Nylander looks like a guy that can score 20+ goals as your #6 guy in your top 6, then all of a sudden the future is brighter and the Penguins have a lot of cap room to go out and get younger stars.
They don’t need all three to happen, but they probably need 2 of the players to emerge (even throw in Puustinen in the same mold as Nylander).
IMO if Poulin and Nylander haven’t replaced Harkins/Nieto and Carter in the lineup by the mid-point in the season the Pens are in a little trouble. Should look something like this in a perfect world:
Guentzel – Crosby – Rakell
Smith – Malkin – Nylander
O’Connor – Poulin – Rust
Nieto/Harkins – Eller – Acciari
This would free up the ability to offload one of Eller/Acciari and one of Rakell/Rust in the offseason, and then re-sign Guentzel and go after William Nylander or someone like him. A lot of ifs, but not impossible.
I can agree with all that. Dubas was smart to target defense in the bottom 6 since it’s much cheaper than guys that can score, but they really need karlsson and the guys you mentioned to be the difference. If even one top six guy goes down for extended time, we are probably in trouble.
Yup. Exactly. If O’Connor doesn’t take a step forward and Poulin/Nylander aren’t viable options for offense in the middle 6, the team simply lacks the scoring depth to be legit contenders.
We’ll find out eventually lol.