Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] Pens re-sign Guentzel (5 years, $6M AAV)

[AquaticBirdman]

His playoff performances alone have made him worth the money. Kid knows how to step up when it matters most and has insane chemistry with Sid.

 

[TheeNorthStar]

Not a star, not a beast along the boards, can get pushed around and washed out of the play.

But man can he score. Legitimately one of the best thinkers of the game. Exceptionally smart player.

This is a great deal for PIT.

This! Great signing.

 

[jetsforever]

Seems alright, nothing special

 

[The List Of Jericho]

I gotta chime in here and say no way is Guentzel better than Dylan Larkin.

 

[JetsFan815]

I mean... Nylander is a better player than Guentzel, so that kinda doesn't help your point that he's not overpaid.

Career numbers of Guentzal compared to Nylander:

I think this is a great contract for the Pens, hopefully the Guentzal contract will be the base for negotiations for upcoming forward RFAs (Kyle Connor) for my team.

 

[Hally BlackWood]

read Guentzels better then Larkin. Please people get off the meth

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

Cool. How was Guentzel's NHL career going at 20 years old?

Still in college, what does that have to do with anything. Much easier breaking in with a lousy team than a Cup contender. Pens don’t rush any college players and wait until after Junior year to sign any of them.

Guentzel lit it up in his first year in the AHL and half way through that season forced his way into the Pens lineup when he got an injury call up. The rest is history. Bottom line is Guentzel has the better points per game, better goals per game, better 5 v 5 points when you take all NHL games played both regularly season and playoffs. It is that simple. All games look at the production and you don’t have to pick at one year or when they came into the league. All stats for career and Guentzel has been the better player. People have posted the career stats you try and ignore.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

"one or two people" Even you must know how much of bull- err....
Naah.. I won't continue this discussions as it's off-topic.

What I'm curious is how does Pitt's cap handle this? Brassard and Sheahan probably walk as UFA. It does leave very little cap space even after those two if I'm reading NHLNumbers correctly.

I doubt the Pens have any interest in bringing back Brassard. Sheahan will most likely go also unless they sign him for a bargain. Most likely Blueger gets his shot and maybe even a prospect like Bellerive or Hallander. One thing you can take to the bank is JR will fill the holes by playoff time. He is not the type to sit still.

I don’t think any Pens fan believed Brassard or Sheahan was coming back even without this Guentzel signing. I can also see someone like Maatta being traded since we will soon have 8 defenseman that can play top 6 when Schultz comes back.

Pens will have no problem fitting this contract in and it is a fair deal. Pens have all the important players signed for several years. All top 8 defenseman are either signed or under team control. Top 7 highest scoring forwards right now are all back. Brassard as the 8th won’t be and is the only top 9 forward not back next year. Pens are in good shape and I have faith that JR will find a way.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Career numbers of Guentzal compared to Nylander:

I think this is a great contract for the Pens, hopefully the Guentzal contract will be the base for negotiations for upcoming forward RFAs (Kyle Connor) for my team.

Genuinely curious, would you rather have JG or Nylander moving forward?

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

Brassard walking as a FA (if not sooner) and us dumping Oleksiak for whatever solves the cap issues. With this contract we'll have around 4m to sort out a 3c (assuming we move Oleksiak and do not take back any salary).

The lineup would look something like this:

Guentzel - Crosby - Hornqvist
Pearson - Malkin - Kessel
Simon - XXXXX - Rust
ZAR - Blueger - XXXXX
XXXXX - XXXXX

Dumoulin - Letang
Maatta - Schultz
Riikola - Johnson
Pettersson

Murray/X

That's 75.25m. If you figure the depth guys make 750k, that's 78.25m and the only piece missing is a #3c. The issue is beyond next season when Schultz and Murray need new contracts and depth guys need raises. But this doesn't really cause any issues for next season.

That’s pretty far looking ahead though. By the time those two contracts are up we will have had 2 playoff runs. I am sure by then changes will have been made. Most likely a contract like Maatta gets traded because of someone like Pettersson or Riikola proves able to take his spot cheaper. Also by then players like Hallander, Bellerive, or others will be ready for some spots.

I also don’t see Schultz getting a raise. Now if Murray stays healthy and productive then his cap hit could double. Let’s hope that’s the case because that means the Pens will have had two productive years.

You can pencil in Jarry for that X in back up goaltender.

I do agree the only thing that the Pens might put some money into is 3rd line center to replace Brassard which might even happen this year in a deal. Although JR will be patient for the right fit. Remember last season going into the season with Rowney and McKegg as our centers in those 3 and 4 spots. By mid season it was Brassard and Sheahan.

Can’t complain about having 8 of your top 9 coming back and your 7 highest forward scorers, top 8 defenseman, and starting goaltender all back next year. Most teams would love to have that problem.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I wonder if the, "People who rarely watch Guentzel" argument could be the reason you don't get why Larkin is better.

By the way, I'm not saying Guentzel would be bad without Crosby... He's just not on Larkin's level.

I mean, did you read my post to the end? Or just interpret my take based on me scoffing at the idea that people who post in HF polls are somehow experts on both players being discussed?

And I quote: "I'm not even saying Guentzel IS better than Larkin ..."

Like I said, I'm not saying Guentzel is better. I'm saying that appealing to HF posters, many of which are under the opinion that Crosby's basically dragging a fringe NHLer along with regards to Guentzel, isn't the best method to argue your case with.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

It's not like Guentzel just stands around waiting for Sid to do all the work and get him the puck in a scoring area. They work off each other. Guentzel plays a complete game. And he's already proven to be a big game player.

He's comprable to Zucker & Schwartz and their deals were almost identical.

It is ridiculous how people think that you can just plug any stiff on Sid's line and bam, you have a 30 goal scoring wing.

Over the years we have seen that some players fit well with him and some do not. Some do not work out at all.

As you say they compliment each other well, both the speed of their game and the intelligence of their games, and that is not as easy to find and some seem to think.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

And what if he's not better?

Still a hefty price.

 

[StroShow]

Excellent deal , signed through ages 25-30

42 points in 37 playoff games

on pace for 73 points this year.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Still in college, what does that have to do with anything. Much easier breaking in with a lousy team than a Cup contender. Pens don’t rush any college players and wait until after Junior year to sign any of them.

Guentzel lit it up in his first year in the AHL and half way through that season forced his way into the Pens lineup when he got an injury call up. The rest is history. Bottom line is Guentzel has the better points per game, better goals per game, better 5 v 5 points when you take all NHL games played both regularly season and playoffs. It is that simple. All games look at the production and you don’t have to pick at one year or when they came into the league. All stats for career and Guentzel has been the better player. People have posted the career stats you try and ignore.

I guess we forgot that Detroit was still a relatively decent team when Larkin broke into the league...

And yes, it is relevant when you're comparing stats for a guy who was 20 to a guy who didn't even break into the league until he was 22.

Also, let's not pretend Pittsburgh was some super deep team on the wing when Guentzel broke in. They've always been built down the middle and had interchangeable wingers. (Minus Kessel) For f***s sake their best winger for a near five year period was Chris Kunitz.

 

[ImNeverWrong]

once he gets a taste of that first pp unit, you'd think he would become a ppg player

 

[JetsFan815]

Genuinely curious, would you rather have JG or Nylander moving forward?

I am not sure what the relevance of this question is, my point was to address those in this thread making posts as if Nylander > Jake AINEC. My personal preference between the two players should be irrelevant. That said I personally prefer Nylander but that's likely more because I haven't watched Jake Guentzal play much aside from a few games every season.

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Excellent deal , signed through ages 25-30

42 points in 37 playoff games

on pace for 73 points this year.

Good first-liner for the Pens.

 

[howkie]

Genuinely curious, would you rather have JG or Nylander moving forward?

If Nylander could make a switch to center the answear is easy if we talking about Jets needs, since Guentzel and Connor play the same role.

 

[ole ole]

Genuinely curious, would you rather have JG or Nylander moving forward?

No. Why pay more and receive less.

 

[Elganja]

terrific deal, he was a beast in the playoffs and will only get better

 

[BigEezyE22]

What the heck are you talking about? Guentzel played a full year last year...what’s this nonsense about not enough games to hit 60 haha and then you mention Matthews while never mentioning Crosby at all. Great spin.

Mark Letestu’s playoff PPG was better than McDavid’s when the Oilers made a run...is Letestu better than McDavid haha

The Oilers never made a run. They won 1 series.

 

[GodEmperor]

Fair deal, maybe slightly overpaid, but that's how all deals start for young players, hell you could've made the case for friggin Mac being overpaid and look at him now.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Genuinely curious, would you rather have JG or Nylander moving forward?

Nylander. Easy question.

 

[Bob Clarke Fan Club]

He plays when it counts, never an issue to pay guys for doing that. OK deal for an underrated player.