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Jake Guentzel shares details on Carolina Hurricanes departure

Jake Guentzel was the hot commodity around the NHL at both the trade deadline and in free agency during the 2023-24 season.

The longtime Pittsburgh Penguin had a desire to extend with the organization that drafted him, but general manager Kyle Dubas wanted to shift the direction of his team and dealt Guentzel to Carolina.

His 17-game stint as a Hurricane went tremendously well, potting eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points, along with another nine points (four goals, five assists) in 11 playoff games. Guentzel built immediate chemistry on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, looking like the perfect fit for the next stop in his NHL career.

However, we all know that the three-time 40-goal scorer wound up signing in Tampa Bay after acquiring his rights ahead of free agency, and on Tuesday, Guentzel himself spoke about how things ended in Carolina during an appearance on the “Cam and Strick” podcast.

“Yeah, that was just a whirlwind kind of time, you know; first time going to a different team, you’re not sure how it’s going to go. But I loved my time there; great team, great group of guys, and it was a lot of fun to be out there with those guys. Aho, I think, is an unbelievable player. Jarvy’s a great player too, so those guys were just special players to play with,” Guentzel said.

“Yeah, just, there was kind of a lot of back and forth before free agency. Was hoping to get a deal done right after the season, just didn’t kind of come to fruition. And as time got closer and it got closer to free agency, I was kind of sitting there, just, you know, I’m already four days away from free agency; let’s just wait it out and see what happens. And then Tampa came, traded for my rights, and I think that was a no-brainer for me when that happened,” Guentzel added.

The 30-year-old has six years remaining on the seven-year, $63,000,000 deal he inked with the Lightning, which takes him through the 2030-31 campaign. 

Guentzel has fit in like a glove in Tampa Bay

Extending his stay in Carolina was Jake Guentzel’s preference, but it’s all worked out thus far in Tampa Bay.

Guentzel was his usual productive self in year one with the Lightning, racking up 41 goals and 39 assists for 80 points in 80 games played. He was also one of their best players in the postseason, tacking on three goals, three assists, and six points in their five-game first-round series loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. 

It doesn’t get much better than playing alongside Sidney Crosby to start your career, though joining the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman for the foreseeable future is not a step down in the slightest for Jake Guentzel. 

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