Penguins pending UFA Guentzel being evaluated for UBI
Published
The Pittsburgh Penguins are awaiting an update on the status of Jake Guentzel after the pending unrestricted free agent did not play in the final 12 minutes of Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers.
Head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed post-game that Guentzel, who had an assist in 18:30 of ice time, is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
The 29-year-old forward is currently listed at No. 4 on the TSN Trade Bait board, as the Penguins weigh whether to move the winger.
Wednesday's loss was another a setback for the Penguins in their playoff push as the team remains seven points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand.
Guentzel has 22 goals and a team-high 52 points in 50 games this season. A two-time 40-goal scorer, he posted 36 goals and 73 points in 78 games last season.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported Tuesday that the Penguins continue to receive calls on Guentzel, who carries a cap hit of $6 million on his expiring deal, but had not yet set their price for a return.
"The Penguins continue to take calls on him, but the Penguins, from what I can ascertain here, have not told teams what the price would be to get Jake Guentzel and that's because the Penguins are not at that point yet," LeBrun explained. "All they're doing right now is taking calls, and teams are trying to show Kyle Dubas, the Penguins GM, that if he ever gets to that point where he would trade him, that they want in on that conversation."
Selected in the third round of the 2013 draft, the Omaha, Neb., native has spent his entire career with the Penguins, making his debut in 2016-17.