The Pittsburgh Penguins and Kyle Dubas made the difficult decision to trade winger Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline, and Dubas spoke about how the departure of Guentzel was felt throughout the Penguins organization.

“Yeah, and I wasn't there the whole time with him, but I could feel internally the disappointment in seeing Jake walk out the door,” Kyle Dubas said, via Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “And I understand that. He was a key member of the last Stanley Cup the team won, as a younger player coming up with the group. He's a great, character person, everyone knows he's a tremendous competitor. … It's tough when you have to make those decisions. But you have to always do what you believe is best for the long term of the organization and my sights were set on giving the team as long as possible to assert itself more in the race. The other part was getting back a roster player (Michael Bunting) that could help us as well in addition to the future assets.”

Why did the Penguins move on from Jake Guentzel?

With the Penguins on the outside of the playoffs as things stood, Dubas decided that it was time to move on from Guentzel, who was on an expiring contract. Dubas was unable to agree to an extension with him.

Coming into the season, Dubas was trying to let this group try to win one last time, and was waiting as long as possible to see if they could make a run towards a playoff spot. Ultimately, he decided to pull the trigger on the Guentzel trade.

Where do the Penguins go from here?

As things currently stand, the Penguins are six points out of a playoff spot, so it is not impossible for them to sneak in. Still, it seems unlikely.

Based on how the Penguins have operated, it seems like they will ride out the careers of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. While doing that, Dubas will try to set up the Penguins in the long term to win after the three franchise legends move on.