Lightning, Guentzel agree to seven-year, $63 million deal
Published
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63 million deal with an annual cap hit of $9 million.
Guentzel, 29, finished last season with the Carolina Hurricanes after he was acquired at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with defenceman Ty Smith, in exchange for forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, and a conditional 2024 first-round draft pick.
The 5-foot-11 centre had 30 goals and 77 points in 67 regular season games last season split between the Penguins and Hurricanes. He added four goals and nine points in 11 playoff games in Carolina before they were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the second round.
Guentzel is coming off a five-year, $30 million deal he signed with the Penguins in December of 2018.
Drafted 77th overall by the Penguins in 2013, Guentzel has 227 goals and 491 points in 520 career games split between the Penguins and Hurricanes.
Guentzel was a key contributor to the Penguins’ 2017 Stanley Cup championship run, recording 13 goals and 21 points in the playoffs.