After acquiring the rights of Jake Guentzel in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms on a contract agreement with the Unrestricted Free Agent. The contract is for seven years at a $9 million annual average value.
“Those two guys especially are just elite players in this league, top players in this league. From afar, those are two guys you try to watch more times than anyone. They are obviously really high skilled players. They obviously can score a lot of goals, make a lot of plays, so if that comes about where I am playing with them, I am really excited to just try to get open for them and get them the puck as much as possible. I’ve been fortune to play with Sid and Geno and Sebastian Aho so I have had the experience of playing with good players and, if I get the chance to play with those guys, it is going to be really fun for me and I can’t wait”
Guentzel on potentially playing on a line with Kucherov and Point. | Via Introductory Press Conference
Guentzel played 57 games during the 2023-24 regular season between the Pittsburgh Penguins (50) and Hurricanes (17). The 29-year-old tallied 30 goals and 47 assists between the two teams with 22 penalty minutes and an incredible +25. Guentzel will bring a solid two-way game to the Bolts. While being able to convert on the powerplay, collecting five goals and 22 assists on the powerplay last season, he brings a ton of good 5-on-5 play to the Lightning. He averaged 2.03 goals-per-60 and 3.83 points-per-60 during the 2023-24 season.
Guentzel won the Stanley Cup in 2016-17 during his rookie season with the Penguins. He saw time in the lineup 40 times during the regular season, notching 16 goals and 17 assists with a +7 goals difference ratio. During the playoff run, he continued to show what he could do. In 25 games, leading up to lifting the Stanley Cup on his first try, Guentzel tallied 13 goals and eight assists. He collected five game-winning goals, one of which came as an overtime winner. He registered 52 shots, giving him a 25% shot percentage in the postseason. While it comes at quite a few big losses, this, along with other signings to come, will help the Lighting’s 5-on-5 play, something they were not great at last season.
With the trades the Lightning have made to clear up cap space, the Lightning had a projected $16.5 million to work with. With this signing, they still have a projected $7.5 million to fill holes in the team. This, however, does not take into account the contract of J.J. Moser, who was made a qualifying offer by the Lightning. Julien BriseBois and the Lightning still have a bit to go to get depth scoring on the roster.
ITR 37: Round Two – Inside The Rink
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