Latest on Jake Guentzel: Leaders Emerging in Trade Talks?

Latest on Jake Guentzel: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his Saturday Night headlines listed five notable teams in on Jake Guentzel, naming Vegas, Edmonton, Vancouver, Carolina and Florida. There are believed to be others in the mix penning the ability to discuss an extension with Seattle being one of those teams on the outside, league sources say. The five teams, though, mentioned above have been the usual suspects for a few weeks now in the mix for Guentzel as either a rental or a trade/extension:

Extension Buzz: There are strong indications Vegas and Florida are two primary teams Guentzel would at least be receptive to discussing an extension with prior to a trade, which could give the Panthers and Knights an upper-hand on others. Pittsburgh is said to be fond of a few To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

Edmonton In & Out?: The Oilers are viewed in the Guentzel sweepstakes as a team that will have to out-bid the rest of the field by a wide margin due to Guentzel being acquired looked at as strictly a rental compared to other possible destinations and there’s been chatter for a few days now the Oilers have doubts they can pull it off.

Canucks Remain a Wildcard: Jim Rutherford in even after acquiring Elias Lindholm was going to keep his ear on the Guentzel situation and he has. The Canucks have been teetering a bit, Elias Pettersson still won’t commit long-term which has the Canucks looming as a threat. League-Buzz on the Canucks is if Rutherford has a feeling, he can To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! He would not be the center piece by any means but there’s certainly some To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

More Buzz

Flyers (30-21-7, 67 pts) @ Penguins (25-21-8, 58 pts)

Pivotal Points Swing: This afternoon feels like another one where the Penguins officially become cooked with a regulation loss and fall 11 points behind the Flyers or with a win have some life/hope again going into the Western swing. Philadelphia comes to down in the second day of a back-to-back after a grueling matchup against the Rangers Saturday afternoon. Flyers-Rangers had everything of a playoff feel between the two from an intensity standpoint and was a game the Flyers probably should have won. That was a great hockey game and Philadelphia may also be without Travis Konecny once again today vs the Penguins. Pittsburgh has to have this one.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bemstrom to be highlighted in Top-9 Role: Emil Bemstrom will make his Penguins debut this afternoon and will skate on the third line with Lars Eller and Reilly Smith. Pittsburgh will also deploy Bemstrom on the second power play unit:

“He has a really good shot, that’s one of his biggest strength’s,” Mike Sullivan said of Bemstrom. “We are trying to encourage some of our power play groups to shoot the puck a little bit more and that’s an opportunity for him to help us.”