Earlier this offseason, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a massive move, signing forward Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63 million contract. With this move, the Lightning signed this year's top free agent, and he will be a significant part of their core moving forward.
Clearly, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois wanted Guentzel a lot, as he traded a 2025 third-round pick to acquire his signing rights from the Carolina Hurricanes. In the end, the move worked out, and now Guentzel will be in Tampa Bay for the next seven years because of it.
Guentzel, 29, has been one of the top players in the sport over the last several seasons. This was undoubtedly the case this past season as well, as he posted 30 goals, 47 assists, 77 points, and a plus-25 rating in 67 games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Hurricanes. In addition, he had a solid postseason with the Canes, recording four goals and nine points in 11 games.
When noting that Guentzel has multiple years left in his prime and has produced at an over a point-per-game pace in four out of the last five seasons, he should be a magnificent addition to the Lightning's roster. In addition, he will also get the chance to play with Lightning superstars like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman, so he has the potential to improve his offense even further.
From here, it will be interesting to see what kind of season Guentzel puts together for the Lightning in 2024-25. It is hard not to feel excited about his arrival.
In 520 games over eight NHL seasons, Guentzel has 227 goals, 491 points, and a plus-69 rating.
