If the Penguins Trade Guentzel…

There was a great article on Pensburgh the other day proposing a possible trade for Anaheim goalie John Gibson. After consulting with a former Ducks blogger, the writer hypothesized that a package of Tristan Jarry, Marcus Pettersson and prospect Samuel Poulin might land the former Jennings Trophy winner and Pittsburgh native.

Anyway, it got me to thinking (always a dangerous proposition). Who might we acquire if we were looking to trade Jake Guentzel, who had a difficult stretch run and postseason and who some…most notably Mark Madden…have suggested as trade bait.

One guy popped into my head. New Jersey left wing Miles Wood.

Now before you shout me down, hear me out.

First off, I’m not suggesting they’re the same category of player. Jake has a 40-goal season on his resume and has averaged 33 goals per 82-game season over his career. In this day and age, that’s nothing to sneeze at. He’s smart, crafty, creative and blends beautifully with both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. With a cap hit of $6 million a year through the 2023-24 season, he’s a relative bargain.

And, at least early on, he was a postseason dynamo.

So why trade him?

It’s obvious to all the Pens were muscled around in their recent series with the Islanders. Jake was the poster child, absorbing eight hits in Game 1 and 16 over the series. Although not for a lack of heart, guts or effort, he had difficulty penetrating the prime scoring areas, where he scores the majority of his goals. In plain English, he took a beating.

So why Wood?

For starters, he’s cheaper than Guentzel ($2.75 AAV) and younger by a year (25). Bigger than Jake, too…6’2” 195 versus 5’11” 180. And faster, which should be music to coach Mike Sullivan’s ears.

Wood also plays long-pants hockey, to put it into Brian Burke-speak. Embracing a style similar to prized acquisition Jeff Carter, he uses his speed to consistently crash the net and scores the majority of his goals in the dirty areas. Although he doesn’t pile up a ton of hits, he’s aggressive and he’ll drop the gloves on occasion, a quality in short-supply on the “just play” Pens. In short…the Buffalo native would add some size, sand and a Hornqvist-esque element that’s missing from the current mix.

Although he’s admittedly no Guentzel, Wood is no stiff when it comes to scoring. He tallied a career-high 19 goals in 2017-18 and 17 this past season in 55 games (14 at even strength), including four against our Pens. A 25-goal pace over a full season. Which is about what I’d expect from him skating next to Sid.

Wood was particularly effective playing with Taylor Hall when the latter was in New Jersey. And this past season he served as an assistant captain for the Devils, so he brings some leadership qualities, too.

Again, is it an apples-to-apples swap? No. In fact, it would be very similar to the David Perron-for-Carl Hagelin trade back in 2016. Since that deal, Perron has far outstripped Hagelin, production-wise. But “Hags” added a missing element that helped us win back-to-back Cups.

A Wood-for-Guentzel trade would add some much-needed wiggle room, financially, for the cap-strapped Pens. I would expect to pry a draft pick or two and/or a decent prospect from the Devils as well.

Alright, I’ll duck and run for cover now.

United We Stand

During his post-season press conference, GM Ron Hextall made it clear that he likes our team and plans to pretty much keep it intact. Specifically our core group of Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang.

In addition, Hextall offered his full support for the much-maligned Jarry.

He also expressed a desire to get bigger and more physical to be better able to compete in the postseason, while cautioning that those elements aren’t necessarily easy to find (hence above trade proposal).

Around the League

Boston and defending Cup champ Tampa Bay hold 2-1 series leads over the Islanders and Carolina, respectively.

Colorado has a 2-0 edge over Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas. Having ousted heavily favored Toronto, Montreal holds a 1-0 lead over Winnipeg.