Why The Golden Knights Should Explore A Jake Guentzel Trade
The Vegas Golden Knights are littered with injuries and need help scoring. With Jake Guentzel possibly available, The Golden Knights should be exploring a trade.
James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports - Why The Golden Knights Should Explore A Jake Guentzel TradeThe Vegas Golden Knights are littered with injuries and need help scoring. With Jake Guentzel possibly available, The Golden Knights should be exploring a trade.
Since the start of the franchise, the Golden Knights have never shied away from making a splash in the trade market. They've made moves to acquire Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Alec Martinez and Chandler Stephenson. They've also gone out and acquired players through free agency like Alex Pietrangelo.
The Golden Knights have money to work with at the moment with Eichel on the LTIR and Stone possibly going onto the LTIR. Guentzel is in the final year of a five-year $6M deal. His future with the Pittsburgh Penguins is currently up in the air with the state of the team. The Penguins are an aging team that are on the cusp of needing a rebuild and Guentzel as a 29-year-old winger may not want to be a part of a rebuild. The Penguins could look to trade him to receive valuable assets instead of losing him for nothing in the offseason.
Guentzel has 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games this season with the Penguins. He's scored over 40 goals twice in his career and has been over a point per game in the last four seasons. Guentzel would be a perfect fit alongside a healthy Eichel. He's used to playing with highly skilled centermen considering he's played with Sidney Crosby for his entire career. Currently, Guentzel is on the LTIR but is eligible to return to the Penguins lineup before the trade deadline.
The Golden Knights have multiple UFAs heading into the offseason including Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and Alec Martinez. William Carrier and Michael Amadio are also UFAs. Guentzel will be looking for a massive long-term deal because of his age so the Golden Knights would have a big decision to make in the offseason if they were to land him but the Golden Knights have never been afraid to trade for an expiring contract and work on a deal.
The Golden Knights are the defending cup champions with aspirations to win another one this season. Trading for the best available player in the trade market is something that can set you apart. The Golden Knights need offence and Jake Guentzel could be the player that provides that for them.
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