'I feel good': Jake Guentzel Expected To Make Hurricanes Debut Tonight Against New York Rangers

All signs are pointing towards star winger Jake Guentzel making his Carolina Hurricanes debut tonight against the New York Rangers.

Guentzel, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night in exchange for Michael Bunting and a package of picks and prospects, was cleared from LTIR earlier today and seems poised to make a return. 

"I think there's a real good possibility," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour after the team's skate. "He'll take warmups and see where he goes, but all indications are I think he will."

"I feel good, so we'll see what happens," Guentzel said.

The 29-year-old winger took to the ice with his new teammates at Tuesday's morning skate on a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Necas.

"I'm not going to try to do too much," Guentzel said. "Just trust my linemates and trust what I've learned so far. ... It will be a little adjustment, but as we go here, I'll learn things and get more comfortable. Not trying to think too much, just going to go out and play."

"You know they're good and it's up to you to make sure you're putting them in the best situations to get the most out of them," Brind'Amour said on configuring lines around his new players. "That's the tricky part. Knowing still they have to learn a whole new system and learn how we want to do things. That takes time."

In Guentzel, the Hurricanes have acquired a proven goal scorer and someone who they feel can really elevate their team to the ultimate goal.

But he's also joining a new team and has been out on LTIR for nearly a month, so it could take time for him to really click.

"We know he's a good player and you don't want to have all the expectations plopped on in one night," Brind'Amour said. "Just give him some time and let him get his feet wet, but we know we have a great player.

"Everyday there's little things you add, but you don't want to take away from what they're doing. They're good players for a reason and you have to let them play. But the sooner they pick up what we're doing the more it will help our overall picture, but at the end of the day, these guys are good hockey players and you have to let them do their thing."