Many fans are still not used to seeing Jake Guentzel in Carolina Hurricanes uniform. This Tuesday, it's about to get even more surreal for those people, as Guentzel is about to make his first appearance at his old stomping grounds as Guentzel and the Canes are set to visit the PPG Paints Arena to play Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It can be recalled that Guentzel was sent by the Penguins to the Hurricanes just before the 2024 NHL trade deadline earlier this month. Guentzel and Ty Smith were traded to Carolina by Pittsburgh in exchange for Michael Bunting, Vasili Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, Ville Koivunen, and a couple of conditional picks.
Jake Guentzel opens up about looming Pittsburgh return
Guentzel can be expected to run through a series of emotions when he skates against his former team. After all, he played his first seven and a half seasons in the NHL wearing Penguins threads and even won a Stanley Cup title with them during his rookie campaign back in the 2016-17 season.
“It's obviously really exciting,” Guentzel shared to reporters following practice on Monday (h/t NHL.com Senior Writer Dan Rosen)
“Family is still there so I'll get to see them tonight. It'll be nice to see some of the guys. But it's just going to be a fun game and hopefully get the two points,” he added.
A video tribute for Guentzel is likely to be played by the Penguins this Tuesday. It could get really emotional for Guentzel, who made plenty of memories while playing alongside the likes of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin during his time in Steel City.
“It's tough,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said about the return of Guentzel to Pittsburgh as a Hurricane.
“We already kind of talked about it and there's going to be a lot of emotion there. It's obviously a tough game to play for the player, no doubt about it. [Guentzel] had a great career there and did a lot of great things. It's a special night.”
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At the end of the day, it will all be about winning a game for Guentzel, regardless of which opponent is in front of him. So far in his tenure with the Hurricanes, the 29-year-old forward is seemingly having a great time already, as evidenced by the numbers he's put up with his new team.
Guentzel has scored two goals and recorded 10 assists with an impressive plus/minus of plus-11 through his first eight appearances on the ice with Carolina. He will also enter the Penguins game, having racked up four points in the last two Hurricanes outings, including an assist in a 2-1 win at home over the Toronto Maple Leafs last Sunday.
Hurricanes looking to add to Penguins' woes
The win against the Maple Leafs has Carolina back on track after seeing their five-game win streak end in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals on the road last Friday. (In that showdown against the Caps, Guentzel had three assists.)
At the time of this writing, the Hurricanes have 97 points — just a point behind the top spot in the Metropolitan Division standings, with the New York Rangers as the only team in front of Carolina.
Meanwhile, it is a different story for Guentzel's ex-team. The Penguins are on a free fall once again, as they have dropped all of their last three contests — the second time this month that Pittsburgh suffered that long of a losing skid.
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