If Jake Guentzel hits the trade block, the Pittsburgh Penguins know their asking price.

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins have been a popular team around the trade market, but not because they want to take big swings for a playoff push. Instead, all eyes have been set on Jake Guetnzel, who the Penguins may have no choice but to deal before the trade deadline. Guentzel is in the final year of his contract, and the Penguins are still fighting to get back into a playoff spot.

If Kyle Dubas decides it’s time to put Guentzel on the trade block, plenty of suiters will be lined up to make an offer. A trade involving Guentzel won’t be cheap, though. According to Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, if the Penguins are going in that direction, they want a haul in return.

“He’s done his research,” Friedman said on Dubas. “What did Claude Giroux get? A first-rounder and Owen Tippett.”

A few other names and a third-round pick were also involved in that deal, but Friedman looked at comparable trades in recent years to acknowledge that the Penguins are setting a sky-high asking price for Guentzel.

“Look at the Tyler Toffoli deal,” Friedman said. “He was traded for [Yegor] Sharangovich, who’s turned out to be a really good pick up, and a third-rounder. Obviously, Dubas is going to look at the Giroux deal as opposed to the Toffoli deal because the Giroux price was a little bit higher.”

Guentzel is one of the biggest names that might be available at the deadline, and a previous asking price was reportedly set at a pick, a prospect, and an NHL-ready player. If the Penguins are going in this direction, there’s no reason a first-round pick shouldn’t be involved in the return.

“To me, it’s simply a question of when does Dubas decide if he’s going to do it?” Friedman asked. “I think everybody knows that’s what the Penguins are going to be asking for.”

When the Philadelphia Flyers dealt Giroux to the Florida Panthers, he was accompanied by a fifth-round pick in 2024, Connor Bunnaman, German Rubstov. In return, the Flyers received Tippett, a first-round pick in 2024, and a third-round pick in 2023.

Dubas and the Penguins haven’t decided one way or the other with Guentzel, but with no movement on a new contract and the team still well out of a playoff spot, they’ll need to make up their mind soon.

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