Hurricanes Jake Guentzel Hints at Free Agency Plans

Carolina Hurricanes forward Jake Guentzel could be on the move this offseason. After being acquired by Carolina from the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 8th, he is set to hit free agency.

Jake Guentzel will be one of the most sought-after players on the market. The Hurricanes will be motivated to re-sign him after trading a first and fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft along with Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Cruz Lucius and Vasiliy Ponomarev for him.

During his end-of-season exit interview, Guentzel spoke very highly of the organization that he finished the 2023-24 season with. He loved the time he spent in Carolina and the organization itself.

“I’ve loved my experience here. I’ve loved it here. It’s a great place to play. I don’t think you realize behind the scenes how good it is. The guys make it good too,’ Guentzel said. (H/T Heavy)

However, Jake Guentzel fell short of sharing a prediction about whether he would be back with the Hurricanes. He praised his teammates and Raleigh but left the door open about potentially leaving in free agency.

“We’ll see what happens. This team for sure can win a Stanley Cup. I think it’s right there,” Guentzel said. “I want to win more than anything and that’s all I care about.”

Carolina is certainly a team positioned to contend. They lost to the New York Rangers in six games in their Second Round matchup, but the series was highly competitive. Their first three losses were all by one goal, with Game 2 being a double-overtime thriller. One puck bounce their way in those games and the series could have turned out differently. 

This offseason will be a busy one for the Hurricanes. In addition to Jake Guentzel, the team has seven other players who are hitting unrestricted free agency. Six more will be restricted free agents, giving them 14 players in total to make decisions on this summer.