Jake Guentzel was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning by the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 29-year-old forward can become an unrestricted free agent at noon ET Monday. He had 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists) in 67 regular-season games for the Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins this season, including 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 17 games after he was acquired in a trade with the Penguins on March 7.
Guentzel had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Carolina.
“I loved my experience here,” Guentzel said May 18. “It’s a great place to play. I don’t think you realize the behind the scenes, how good it is. The guys make it good too. We’re going to see what happens over the next little bit here.”
Selected by Pittsburgh in the third round (No. 77) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Guentzel has 491 points (227 goals, 264 assists) in 520 regular-season games for the Hurricanes and Penguins and 67 points (38 goals, 29 assists) in 69 playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017.
Tampa Bay traded defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday for defenseman J.J. Moser and forward Conor Geekie, a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in 2025. The Lightning also sent forward Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth-round pick this year and a second-round selection in 2025.
Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Saturday that forward Steven Stamkos, who just played the last season of an eight-year, $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) he signed June 29, 2016, will become a UFA when the market opens Monday.
