Trade Buzz: Examining the Penguins widely regarded underwhelming return for Jake Guentzel

PIT Receives: forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius and 2024 2nd round Pick (Conditional) and 2024 Fifth Round Pick (Conditional)

CAR Receives: Forward Jake Guentzel, Defenseman Ty Smith

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Trade Grades: Hurricanes – A | Penguins C-

Hurricanes Acquire Jake Guentzel with little risk: The Carolina Hurricanes have been criticized in past seasons of not being willing to take a risk in moving significant assets for a top rental player. They went out Thursday night in acquiring the top forward on the market in Jake Guentzel. But in doing so, they still acquired Guentzel by sticking with their beliefs of not dealing significant assets for a rental.

“Jake is an elite goal scorer and playmaker who has produced at a high level for his entire NHL career,” Hurricanes General Manager Don Waddell said in a released statement.

Whether Guentzel takes Carolina to the next level or not, they’re still going to be a slight underdog in a second-round matchup with the Rangers and would be an underdog against Florida down the road, Carolina did tremendously well here. Top prospect Alexander Nikishin was never going to be on the table nor was Bradly Nadeau, but for the Hurricanes to come out of this without having to give up Scott Morrow or rising prospect Jackson Blake was some nifty work by Waddell and his staff. Even Jack Drury not being coveted by Pittsburgh caught a few by surprise. There was always skepticism Hurricanes would put Morrow in play and they didn’t, but Jackson Blake is the name one rival clubs certainly expected to be the main prospect piece coming Pittsburgh’s way.

Then there’s the draft pick considerations. In a poor draft after picks 18-20, Pittsburgh doesn’t even get a guarantee first rounder. The 2024 conditional second-rounder (PHI) only becomes a first-rounder if Carolina advances to the Stanley Cup Final, which is going to be a longshot. This is not a year to be jumping up for joy to put a ton of stock into late first or second rounder. It’s another area Carolina did extremely well that some believe should have cost them a higher tier prospect.

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What We Learned from the Penguins Return of Jake Guentzel

Jake Guentzel became proof again that top rentals just don’t go for what so many think they will and all this talk of the Penguins eyeing ‘quality over quantity’ did not play out. Kyle Dubas has a reputation around the league of thinking he’s smarter than others when evaluating talent. Time will tell if he and his staff were right on this one. The early spin from the Penguins organization is this:

I: The Penguins believe this return checked a number of boxes for the present and future with the return of an established NHLer (Bunting), an NHL/AHL bottom-6 tweener for the present (in Ponomarev), Higher Ceiling Prospect (in their eyes in Koivunen), Middle-Tier Ceiling Prospect (Lucius) who some around the league like better than Koivunen, though, scouts question he will ever be able to skate well enough to be a true NHLer. As for the futures package, team scouts are ecstatic about adding 20 year old forward Villie Koivunen to the system. He seems to be top To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

II: Pittsburgh is going to get criticized up and down for this, but rival teams all say the Penguins in this process put a premium on getting an established forward with term back in the Guentzel deal. They can spin it any way they want but trying to play this fantasy game they can still compete, Pittsburgh prioritized getting Bunting To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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Ville Koivunen | 2021 2nd round pick |

[hide] From the Penguins Released Statement: Koivunen, 20, has skated in 57 games this season with Karpat of Liiga, Finland’s top professional league, and tallied 21 goals, 34 assists and 55 points. The forward leads Karpat in assists and points, while his point total is also the fifth highest across all of Liiga. Koivunen plays with Penguins prospect Emil Pieniemi on Karpat. The 6-foot, 172-pound Koivunen has played three seasons with Karpat, totaling 44 goals, 68 assists and 112 points in 162 career Liiga games. He also played in 12 AHL games following the conclusion of his Liiga season in 2022-23, tallying one goal with the Chicago Wolves.[/hide]

Vasily Ponomarev | 2020 2nd Round Pick

[hide] From the Penguins Released Statement: Ponomarev, 21, has appeared in two games for the Carolina Hurricanes this season, notching two points (1G-1A). He made his NHL debut on Jan. 5, scoring his first NHL goal and finishing the night with two points. He’s also played in 41 games at the AHL level this year split between the Tuscon Roadrunners and the Chicago Wolves, picking up 29 points (8G-21A) in 41 games. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward has played in a total of 116 career AHL games over parts of three seasons, recording 35 goals, 50 assists and 85 points. His best season came with Chicago in 2022-23 where he established AHL career highs in games played (64), goals (24), assists (22), and points (46). Ponomarev won the AHL’s Calder Cup with Chicago in 2022, recording six points (1G-5A) in 18 playoff games.[/hide]

Cruz Lucius | 2022 4th Round Pick

[hide] From Penguins Released Statement: Lucius, 19, has spent the 2023-24 campaign playing collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin. He’s appeared in 32 games, recording 12 goals, 19 assists, 31 points and is plus-2. His 31 points rank first on Wisconsin and his 12 goals are a career high and are second on the team. The 6-foot, 178-pound Lucius has played in 66 career NCAA games from 2022-24, all with Wisconsin, notching 23 goals, 42 assists and 65 points in 66 games. Cruz is teammates with current Penguins prospect Daniel Laatsch.[/hide]