After a 109-point season and a second-round exit at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks will look to improve for next season. They will aspire to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders but in a league that has a hard salary cap, that is easier said than done. Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin said he was not satisfied at the year-end press conference. Expect him and the rest of the management team to be aggressive in the next few weeks and make some tough decisions. One of the names the Canucks have been linked to is a name Allvin is very familiar with; Jake Guentzel. Frank Servalli of Daily Faceoff reported last week that Vancouver is expected to make a strong push for the winger. Let’s go over the pros and cons of the Vancouver Canucks indeed targeting Guentzel.
The Pros of Targeting Guentzel
Guentzel is a bonafide top-six forward and a pure goal scorer. Since he broke into the NHL in 2016-17, he scored 227 goals in the regular season. That is 21st in the entire NHL since the start of the 2016-17 season. He has also eclipsed the 40-goal mark twice, doing so in 2018-19 and 2021-22.
Guentzel has a ton of playoff experience and he was a vital part of the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup in 2017. Guentzel has scored the sixth most post-season goals since the 2016-17 season. His 38 playoff goals are only behind Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. He found excellent chemistry with Sidney Crosby.
Jake Guentzel has been traded
Guentzel has been a fan favourite since his first game with the Penguins. A natural goal scorer who developed along side Sid to become a star in the NHL. Through his time here he became the greatest winger Crosby has ever had.
Guentzels time in… pic.twitter.com/4uMjq5DBSo
— Mario LeCrosGoat (@MarioLeGoat) March 8, 2024
Guentzel has a lethal wrist shot and brings a ton of speed. Not all his goals are shots from distance, he is also great at scoring tip-ins and deflections.
Jake Guentzel is gonna get sooo paid pic.twitter.com/arohne4bS8
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 9, 2024
The native of Omaha, Nebraska has not had a season where he scored at least 20 goals other than his rookie season when he scored 16. This past season Guentzel scored 30 goals and managed 47 assists combined with the Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. In the playoffs, he scored four goals and tallied five assists but the Hurricanes lost in six games to the New York Rangers in round two. Not only is Guentzel an excellent finisher, he is a solid playmaker. Despite being listed as 5’11” and 180 pounds, he knows how to get around defenders with his speed and agility.
5’11” Guentzel doing great work on 6’5” Miller.
Feeling pressure and keeping great leverage. pic.twitter.com/3cWTmO17Fu
— Greg Revak, CFP® (@CoachRevak) May 8, 2024
Signing Guentzel would benefit Elias Pettersson. He would thrive from Guentzel’s finishing and speed and combining with his playmaking would mix well together. The top six would have a bonafide goal scorer and depending on what else the Canucks do this offseason, Guentzel could take the Canucks into contending status. It feels like a good fit. Guentzel also has familiarity with Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and Head Coach Rick Tocchet dating back to his rookie season. Tocchet was an assistant coach in Pittsburgh when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2017
The Cons of the Canucks Targeting Guentzel
The elephant in the room is that Guentzel will not be cheap. He rightfully deserves a raise from his six-million-dollar AAV. According to AFPAnalytics via DailyFaceoff, Guentzel’s next contract is projected to be a seven-year deal worth 9.25 million dollars per season. Well, at least he would be able to buy property with that money if he chooses to sign in Vancouver.
As it stands, the Canucks have a projected cap space of 16 million dollars after signing Filip Hronek to his big deal. Signing Guentzel would be almost half of that. Vancouver also has to decide on re-signing Nikita Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, Tyler Myers, and Teddy Blueger. The first two are going to want big raises for their contributions this past season. The Canucks will likely sign a couple of free agents for depth reasons as well.
They have been reportedly trying to move Ilya Mikheyev to clear cap space. It would be tough to move him, especially without a sweetener but moving his 4.75 million dollar cap hit would be huge. Furthermore, Brock Boeser is due for a raise next season and signing Guentzel would make extending Boeser complicated.
There is another factor to think about; Guentzel will turn 30 on October 6. It has been widely known that players in the NHL tend to decline after 30. As good as Guentzel is, he will be no exception. How many years does he have left in the tank? There have been several wingers in the past who were in their late 20s or early 30s that flopped after signing big contracts. That includes the likes of James Neal, Milan Lucic, and Loui Eriksson.
If the Canucks walk away or miss out on Guentzel, there are other alternatives. That includes Tyler Toffoli, who the Canucks have a history with and CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported on Monday that they are interested in him. They could even go after Viktor Arvidsson, Jonathan Marchessault, or Jake DeBrusk.
The Verdict
There are risks for the Canucks to sign Guentzel and they are big ones. If the Canucks sign Guentzel it could go really well or go really poorly. So should the Canucks do it? Should they sign Guentzel to a lucrative contract? We say they should.
As mentioned, the Canucks will want to build and improve on their 2023-24 season. Taking a step back is simply not an option at this point. Signing Guentzel would open the Stanley Cup window further. The cost and term are risky but if you want to win the Stanley Cup, risks have to be taken. Guentzel is a player that they need and would be a game-changer. It seems he still has a few good years left in him. He brings experience, especially in the playoffs.
The trepidation behind the Canucks potentially signing him is understandable. In the past, they have had big signings that didn’t pan out. Eriksson comes to mind. There is also the signing of Mark Messier in 1997 but ask any Canucks fan about that, they’ll say it never happened. When the Canucks signed Eriksson, it was a confusing one. They were coming off a 2015-16 season where they finished third last in the NHL and missed the post-season for the second time in three years. They were a team that needed to rebuild. This time, the Canucks are in a different position. They are coming off their third-highest point total in a season in franchise history.
Now is the time to go all in. If the Canucks get Guentzel it will show they are serious about going for the Stanley Cup next season and beyond. Now all they need to do is to convince him to sign at the right price.
Main photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
