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PITTSBURGH — Jake Guentzel is heading to Carolina.
The Pittsburgh Penguins traded the high-scoring forward to the Hurricanes on Thursday night in exchange for forward Michael Bunting, prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasili Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius and conditional first- and fifth-round picks in this year’s draft.
The first-rounder becomes Philadelphia’s second-rounder if the Hurricanes don’t reach the final, and Pittsburgh only gets the fifth if Carolina wins it all for the second time in franchise history.
“The decision to trade Jake Guentzel, with his contract set to expire this offseason, was one of the most difficult decisions that I have had to make in my time in management," first-year general manager/director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said, adding that Guentzel had become a pillar in the community and a fan favorite. “Jake’s competitiveness, tenacity and spirit, combined with his talent have produced some of the greatest moments of this era of Penguins hockey.”
The 29-year-old Guentzel gives the Hurricanes a proven goal scorer who thrives in the postseason spotlight. Guentzel has reached the 40-goal plateau twice in eight seasons and has 58 points (24 goals, 34 assists) in 58 playoff games. His 13 goals during the 2017 playoffs led the league and helped the Penguins become the first team in nearly 20 years to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
Guentzel has 22 goals in 50 games this season for Pittsburgh. He's currently on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered in a loss to Florida on Feb. 14, though he's eligible to come off Sunday. Guentzel had been skating with the Penguins in recent days. He participated in the team's pre-game skate on Thursday wearing a black jersey, indicating he has been cleared for contact.
His departure is the first of what could be several high-profile moves made by Dubas. Pittsburgh is languishing near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with five weeks left in the regular season, and Dubas stated recently one of his top priorities is to find a way to inject youth into the NHL’s oldest roster.
“He’s a great player, a great teammate,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "A friend. I think he did everything he possibly could in his time here. Just a privilege to play with him for the course of that time. Great memories and that’s all I can say.”
While a little undersized at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Guentzel’s hockey intelligence and knack for finding open ice made him a perfect complement to Crosby almost from the moment Guentzel arrived in the NHL during the 2016-17 season. The duo joined Bryan Rust to form the “Sid and the Kids” line that helped power the Penguins past Nashville in the Stanley Cup finals.
It was hardly a fluke. Guentzel leaves Pittsburgh with 219 goals, eighth-most in the history of a franchise that boasts more than its fair share of talented scorers. Guentzel has for the most part been highly durable despite often playing in high-traffic areas of the ice. He has played in at least 90% of Pittsburgh’s games five times in his seven full seasons, the only exceptions being 2019-20 when a shoulder injury ruined an All-Star campaign and this year, when offseason wrist surgery had him miss a handful of games to start the season followed by the upper-body injury on Valentine's Day in a loss to Florida.
Guenztel is beloved in Pittsburgh and there are typically lines out the door at a local milkshake chain that offers half off Guentzel’s signature flavor the day after he scores. Yet with his asking price in free agency figuring to be outside Pittsburgh’s budget, Guentzel joins the likes of other franchise fixtures with close ties to their Cup runs like goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, forward Phil Kessel and defenseman Brian Dumoulin that have headed elsewhere in recent years for various reasons.
Bunting, 28, has 13 goals and 23 assists for the Hurricanes and has topped 20 goals in a season twice in his five-year career.
Bunting also reunites with Dubas, who signed Bunting as a free agent with Toronto in 2021.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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