In his first season as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas will have some extremely difficult decisions to make ahead of the Mar. 8 NHL Trade Deadline.

As of Tuesday, the Pens are 24-21-7 and a full nine points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. It doesn't help that Sidney Crosby and co. have gone 3-6-1 in their last 10, falling to second-last place in the Metropolitan Division.

For that reason, it's very possible that Dubas and Pittsburgh's front office could be thinking towards the future instead of improving the team for a postseason push in 2024.

The obvious name that continues to come up is Jake Guentzel; the 29-year-old Penguins forward is a pending unrestricted free agent and could walk for nothing over the summer if he isn't dealt.

The 29-year-old is also out of the lineup with an injury that could sideline him until the week after the deadline — he was originally given a four-week timetable after getting injured against the Florida Panthers last week.

“The injury only takes him a week past the Trade Deadline and that's fine so they can do something there,” explained Sportsnet's Jeff Marek on NHL Network Radio on Monday. “It sounds very much like [the Penguins] are looking for something along the lines of the Claude Giroux deal.”

Giroux traded from Philadelphia to Florida in 2022

After spending his entire career in Pennsylvania — like Guentzel has — Giroux was traded from the Flyers to the Panthers at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.

In return, the Flyers got Owen Tippett, who is having an excellent season in Philly in 2023-24, as well as a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and a 2024 first-rounder.

At the time, Giroux was playing out the final season of an eight-year pact, and was brought onto a Panthers team that had Stanley Cup aspirations. He was unable to secure an elusive championship in Florida and would move on to the Ottawa Senators, but the Cats would march all the way to the Stanley Cup Final without him last season.

Marek wonders if another Stanley Cup contender can pull off a similar type deal for Guentzel in 2024.

“Can the Edmonton Oilers or Colorado Avalanche do that? I think [Pittsburgh] is prepared for both inevitabilities and it seems like as the days go on and we move closer to March 8 that the Penguins are going to be sellers more so than buyers,” Marek asserted.

Guentzel was in the midst of a phenomenal season before getting injured, racking up 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games. It will be interesting to see if the lifetime Penguins forward will finally be donning a new jersey in 2024.