Penguins A to Z: 'Playoff' Jake Guentzel made a big return
With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
Jake Guentzel
Position: Left winger
Shoots: Left
Age: 27
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 180 pounds
2021-22 NHL statistics: 76 games, 84 points (40 goals, 44 assists)
Contract: In the third year of a five-year contract with a salary cap hit of $6 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
(Note: The final two years of Guentzel’s contract include a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of 12 teams that he will not accept a trade to, per Cap Friendly.)
Acquired: Third-round draft pick (No. 77 overall), June 30, 2013
Last season: Following a lackluster performance during the 2021 postseason, there was no harsher critic of Jake Guentzel than himself.
After the Penguins were eliminated by the New York Islanders in May of 2021, Guentzel was blunt when asked for a self-assessment.
“I know I’ve got to be a lot better.”
Any hopes Guentzel would be better to open the 2021-22 campaign were hijacked a few days before the regular season began as he was among the first players in the entire league to be sidelined due to covid-19 this past season.
Working through the fatigue after he had recovered, Guentzel struggled to find the net as he scored only one goal in his first seven games.
After a 4-0 home loss to the Calgary Flames on Oct. 28, Guentzel was once again harsh in describing his play.
“I’ve got to be better,” Guentzel said. “I’ve just got to try and help as much as I can and I’ve just got to start producing.”
Sure enough, he did.
Even before his long-time center Sidney Crosby got up to full speed after recovering from offseason surgery to his left wrist as well as his own bout with covid-19, Guentzel was arguably the Penguins’ most consistent offensive producer from November until the end of their brief playoff run in May.
(The lone exception being a five-game absence in December due to a right-hand injury.)
Selected for the NHL’s All-Star Game event for the second time, Guentzel reached the 40-goal mark for the second time in his career and established a new career-high in points.
In the postseason, he returned to the form that established him as a high-end playoff performer in the embryonic stages of his career. Appearing in all seven of the Penguins’ postseason games, Guentzel led the team in goals (eight) and points (10).
The future: One of the relatively few players on the roster with a secure future with the franchise is Guentzel. He still has two years remaining on his contract and he’s still a few years south of turning 30. Also, there is the matter of his modified no-trade clause kicking in starting with the 2022-23 season.
Considering he had a career year despite missing a few games due to various maladies as well as playing several contests without Crosby at full speed and operating on a power play that was inconsistent (at best), it’s tempting to wonder if Guentzel can reach an even higher level.
One could argue he did just that during the Penguins’ aborted postseason run.
“Regular-season Jake is terrific,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think ‘Playoff Jake’ is a whole other level.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.