NHL Rumors: Jake Guentzel Contract Eyed By Lightning in FA amid Steven Stamkos Buzz

Jack MurrayJune 30, 2024

Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images

The Tampa Bay Lightning appear to be pursuing a pending unrestricted free agent that isn’t Steven Stamkos.

The Lightning made multiple trades during Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft that cleared up significant cap space ahead of NHL Free Agency. While first impressions could indicate it was in an effort to re-sign captain Steven Stamkos, Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported that a different high-level forward may be the franchise’s preference.

“Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois did circle back to veteran agent Don Meehan on Saturday regarding pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos, so there’s that,” Lebrun and Johnston wrote. “But in all likelihood, this is about another potential big move, and league sources point to strong interest from the Bolts in pending UFA Jake Guentzel.”

Guentzel split the 2023-24 season between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes, scoring 30 goals and 47 assists in 67 games. This was the highest point-per-game average (1.47) of his career, and he added nine points in 11 games during the Hurricanes run to the Eastern Conference Final.

The 29-year-old has 492 points in 520 games and could be a strong scoring option alongside MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov and All-Star center Brayden Point. He would replace Stamkos, who has been the face of the franchise since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2008 NHL Draft.

Stamkos had 40 goals and 41 assists in 79 games in 2023-24. He has scored 555 goals and has 1,137 points in 1,082 games. He is the franchise leader in goals and points and has won two Stanley Cups with the team.

Despite this, he is 34-year-old and will likely start to decline quicker than Guentzel will. Additionally, Kucherov and Point have become the younger faces of the franchise and ripping the band-aid off may be what is best for all parties.

Should Stamkos hit the free market, he will likely be one of the premier names, as will Guentzel.

NHL Free Agency is set to begin July 1.