Hurricanes acquire Jake Guentzel from Penguins for Michael Bunting, conditional first-round pick, prospects

It’s official: the Carolina Hurricanes have acquired Jake Guentzel.

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded their talented winger, along with defensesman Ty Smith, in exchange for Michael Bunting, prospects Ville Koivunena, Vasili Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius, a conditional 2024 first- and fifth-round pick in 2024.

The conditions of the trade include 25 percent of Guentzel’s salary will be retained by the Penguins; the first-round pick becomes the Philadelphia Flyers’ second-round pick in 2024 (acquired via trade) if the Hurricanes don’t make it to the Stanley Cup Finals this season. The Penguins will not receive the Hurricanes’ fifth-round pick if the Hurricanes do not win the Stanley Cup this season.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to confirm that the two teams were setting up the trade call, and that Bunting, the conditional first rounder and prospects were the centerpiece of the deal.

Guentzel is in the final season of a five-year, $30 million contract signed ahead of the 2019-20 season. So far in 2023-24, the 29-year-old has 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 50 games, second on the Penguins in scoring behind captain Sidney Crosby.

Through eight NHL seasons, Guentzel, whom Pittsburgh drafted in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has 219 goals and 247 assists for 466 points in 503 career games.

The native of Omaha, Ne. made an impact in the league right away, being part of the Penguins’ second of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17, scoring 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 25 games.

More details on the potential trade to come as the story develops.

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Follow all the deals leading up to the March 8 deadline with Daily Faceoff’s 2024 NHL Trade Tracker.