Flashback to March 2024. The birds are chirping, baseball season is right around the corner and the temperatures aren’t the only thing beginning to heat up as March also welcomes the ever-infamous NHL trade deadline.
As they have for many years at this point in the season, the Carolina Hurricanes once again found themselves near the top of both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference.
Needing to make the extra splash as most playoff-hopeful teams do around that time of year, the Canes swung arguably the biggest deal of the deadline, acquiring center Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a combination of current players, picks and prospects.
With Guentzel in the final year of a five-year, $30 million contract, he was easily one of the most “bang-for-your-buck” guys at last year’s deadline, and with the Canes looking to improve their scoring depth and make an impact right away, adding Guentzel seemed like a match made in heaven.
Across a combined 28 regular-season and playoff games, Guentzel operated at above point-per-game averages, notching 34 points during his time in Raleigh.
And although the Hurricanes were bounced in the second round by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers, it was almost certain that an eight-year extension to stay in Raleigh was coming Guentzel’s way, right?
With rumors of an eight-year, $64 million contract circulating for Guentzel, the deal essentially seemed done. However, much to the dismay of Hurricanes fans, that ended up not being the case — on July 1, 2024, Guentzel signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning just one day after Tampa traded for his signing rights.
Another star player that most surely would’ve anchored the Hurricanes’ top line for years to come, down the drain just like that. All the resources, prospects and picks used to acquire Guentzel only for him to play 28 games in the red-and-black, down the drain just like that.
And the notion that the front office would finally lock down the biggest name out of free agency rather than primarily sticking to draft development, down the drain.
Just. Like. That.
Even now as April ramps up and another quest towards the Stanley Cup begins, Guentzel’s presence in Tampa — or lack thereof in the Lenovo Center — continues to leave a bitter taste in the Caniacs’ mouths.
As a Lightning fan myself, I’ve enjoyed the fruits of Guentzel’s labor. In his first season with Tampa, Guentzel has scored 40 goals for the third time in his career, is on the verge of eclipsing 80 points for the second time, leads the league in power play goals, represented Team USA in the Four Nations Face Off and has produced eight multi-goal games.
Although much of that can be attributed to Tampa’s top line duo of center Brayden Point and left wing Nikita Kucherov, there’s no denying that Guentzel’s offensive prowess has benefited Tampa, as the Lightning are the top-scoring offense in the league with a goals-per-game mark of 3.59 while also being top five on the power play.
It goes without saying that even without Guentzel, the Canes have still proven themselves a force this season as they currently sit 9th overall in goals-per-game and lead the league in penalty killing.
But it also goes without saying that Guentzel would have most certainly bolstered this season’s team in more ways than one.
Particularly on the power play, the league leader in power play goals would’ve amplified a special teams unit that currently sits in the bottom third of the league, which is something you cannot lack heading into the playoffs.
To add insult to injury, if Guentzel and his stats were on this year’s Hurricanes’ team, he would find himself atop their leaderboard in both goals and points, providing a palpable offensive jumpstart to the Canes.
With Tampa being a fellow conference team, the Hurricanes may meet the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, giving Guentzel the opportunity to place the final dagger in his former team’s season come next month.
His overall offensive presence and the fact that he is in his prime at 30 years old continues to leave Canes’ fans wondering why general manager Eric Tulsky didn’t get the deal done with Guentzel.
With Tulsky’s handling of the recent Mikko Rantanen debacle, the organization has to be scratching its head as to why star players can’t envision a future in the City of Oaks.
Blow after blow from players not even on its roster anymore has left the Canes front office facing escalating levels of scrutiny for the mishandlings of franchise-altering players. And rightfully so, as both Guentzel and Rantanen had the ability to change the Hurricanes’ trajectory but alas ending up outside the Tar Heel State.
Although Guentzel’s time in Tampa is still young and it remains to be seen if his contract will be worth its hefty price, there’s no denying that Hurricanes’ fans dream of him lifting Lord Stanley in the Lenovo Center and wish he was still donning the red-and-black.
