Kyle Dubas is reportedly demanding a first-round pick and quality prospect in return for forward Jake Guentzel, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
A seasoned colleague like Friedman does not report such information randomly. We whispered in his ear. Friedman does not speculate on the value of the Penguins forward, he announces the price demanded by the organization for Guentzel’s services…
Trade Guentzel, unrestricted free agent starting 1er July, would mark a significant change in the team’s philosophy. Just eight months ago, we sacrificed a first-round pick to get Erik Karlsson and signed three veterans to give Crosby, Malkin and Letang a final chance to win the Stanley Cup.
The departure of Guentzel, the team’s second scorer, 51 points, including 22 goals, in 49 games, one point less than Sidney Crosby, constituted a certain admission of abandonment, not only for this season, but perhaps also next year, unless Guentzel is rehired starting in July.
However, it would be unrealistic for the Penguins to hang on to him. Pittsburgh is now seven points out of the final playoff spot, with two more games remaining. The New Jersey Devils are starting to pull away slightly, three points ahead, but also with two fewer games to play.
Friedman evokes a return similar to that received by the Florida Panthers for Claude Giroux in March 2022: Owen Tippett and a first-round pick.
Tippett, then 23, was drafted tenth overall in 2017, but the Panthers no longer really believed in him. He had 14 points, including only six goals, in 42 games at the time of the transaction, in his third professional season, almost five years after being drafted.
This 6-foot-1, 210-pound colossus finally resurrected his career in Philadelphia. After his 27 goals last year, he is on track to score 31 this year. He has just signed a monstrous eight-year contract extension, for 6.2 million per year.
The Avalanche would have previously offered the Flyers their first-round pick and young defenseman Justin Barron, Friedman also revealed. Philadelphia preferred the Panthers’ offer and Barron moved to the Canadiens with a second-round pick for Artturi Lehkonen.
Tippett and Barron had a slightly similar profile: two young players drafted in the first round a little further down the prospect hierarchy of their respective teams. Tippett has exploded, Barron is still finding his bearings after showing some promise in Montreal.
For the Penguins, such a trade could result in a first-round pick and defenseman Philip Broberg from the Oilers. By a first round pick and Kaapo Kakko of the Rangers. By Vasili Podkolzin with a first round pick from the Canucks or by Fabian Lysell and a first round pick from the Bruins.
Some of these clubs no longer hold a first-round pick this year, but the Panthers, for Giroux, had offered a 2024 pick, more than two years after the transaction.
Rejuvenate the Penguins
Getting rid of Guentzel would not change anything about the identity of the Penguins: an aging club, highly paid players and little replacement, but this exchange would represent a step in the right direction.
The Penguins have kept their first-round picks in the last two drafts. Owen Pickering, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound left-handed defenseman, 21e overall pick in 2022, is not expected to become the next great Penguins defenseman, he did not receive an invitation from the Canadian junior team at the dawn of his 20th birthday, but the first pick of the last summer, 14e Overall, right-handed center Braden Yager is a solid prospect, possibly a long-term second-line center. He has 60 points in 40 games so far in Moose Jaw, in the Western Junior League, although the statistics of 20-year-old players in the junior ranks should not be trusted.
Trading Guentzel for an interesting prospect and a first-round pick would allow the Penguins to fill out this young bank a little more, almost dry two years ago, and allow a less brutal rejuvenation phase.
We will then have to discuss with Sidney Crosby, 36 years old, who will only have one year of contract remaining before his full autonomy in July 2025.
Malkin, Karlsson, Letang, Rust and Rakell will nevertheless be difficult to trade due to their age and the length of their agreement.
For now, trading Guentzel remains the decision to make.
Tomas Hertl on the sidelines for several weeks
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Tomas Hertl
If the San Jose Sharks still had a slight hope of trading their best scorer, Tomas Hertl, at the trade deadline, they can now forget about this possibility.
Hertl, 34 points, including 15 goals, in 48 games, has just undergone surgery to strengthen cartilage in his knee and will miss several weeks.
This powerful 6-foot-3, 215-pound center was once considered a rising star. He amassed 74 points, including 35 goals, in 77 games in 2018-2019, at age 25.
But his eight-year contract for 65 million, signed at the age of 28, in March 2022, and a certain cap, make him an almost impossible player to trade. He will be 36 years old at the conclusion of his contract, at an annual salary of 8.1 million.
Despite ten possible unrestricted free agents, the Sharks are not expected to get much from their sale. We will not pay first or second round picks for Hoffman, Duclair or Labanc.