The Tampa Bay Lightning will play their first pre-season game of the year tonight (Sept. 24) against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Lightning's roster for the matchup has been announced, and newcomers like Cam Atkinson and Zemgus Girgensons will be playing.
However, Lightning fans will need to wait a bit longer before seeing their top free-agent addition of the summer play - Jake Guentzel.
Guentzel is not among the Lightning players who will be suiting up for the club's matchup against the Hurricanes. However, this is not a cause for concern, as players often sit out some games during the pre-season. Thus, Guentzel's pre-season debut with the Lightning should occur very shortly.
Still, it would have been fun to see Guentzel dressed for this contest against his former team. Guentzel finished this past season with the Hurricanes after being traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. In 67 games split between the two teams last season, he had 30 goals, 77 points, and a plus-25 rating.
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