Penguins’ Jake Guentzel only expected to miss a few games to start season after surgery
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Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas offered clarity to All-Star forward Jake Guentzel’s injury situation Monday and indicated the top-line winger is not expected to miss many games as a result of his right ankle surgery.
In a release issued Friday, it was stated Guentzel would be re-evaluated in 12 weeks. On Monday, Dubas suggested it is hoped Guentzel will miss only five games to open the 2023-24 season but stressed that figure is not definite.
Guentzel suffered the injury during an unspecified juncture in the 2022-23 season and was hoping to rehabilitate the ailment through skating and even participation in the high-profile “Da Beauty League,” a summer league populated mainly by NHLers native to Minnesota. But the injury did not resolve itself in a satisfactory fashion, and surgery was required.
“We didn’t want it to linger into the (2023-24 season),” Dubas said. “It just wasn’t comfortable enough for him as he was getting up to the prescribed levels. At that point, it was decided that he would have the surgical solution performed. That will get Jake back up to 100%. It’s in Jake’s best interests, and it’s best for the team to have Jake at 100%. We’ll miss him for the first couple of games of the year. But then he’ll be back to the Jake that we know which I think is the best solution for all of us.”
Should that optimistic timeframe for recovery hold true, Guentzel would not be eligible to be designated to long-term injured reserve. Players with that designation must miss 10 games and 24 days on the NHL’s in-season calendar.
With Guentzel expected to open the season on the active roster, the Penguins are currently projected to be $79,342 over the NHL’s salary cap limit of $83.5 million.
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Dubas suggested he plans on having enough salary flexibility to become compliant with the salary cap and to be able to make any transactions, such as recalls from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in the event of injuries or absences to the incumbent lineup.
Last season, under Hextall, the Penguins regularly had difficulties making even basic transactions, such as recalls, that would allow them to dress a traditional lineup of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders.
“We want to always be able to (have) 22 (players),” Dubas said. “We’re not going to be afraid to use waivers to get flexibility or lose guys. I’ve never operated that way. You never know. You have this fear that if you put a guy on waivers, he’s going to go elsewhere. … We’ll just put them on (waivers), and we’ll wish them well. If they go and show us they’re better elsewhere, we’ll be happy for them.
“For us, we need to continue to have that competition, especially with the number of players that are there. We don’t want to box ourselves in. The way we have it mapped out now, we have room for 22 to start on opening night. Of course, things will happen in (training) camp. That will change all of that one way or another. You never know what’s going to happen. As we sit today, that’s the way we look at it. So one extra (defenseman), one extra forward. We’ll go with the best 13 (forwards), seven (defensemen) and two (goaltenders) out of (training) camp.”
There will be plenty of competition to fill in for Guentzel in Dubas’ view as the team added several wingers in free agency and had a few incumbent options among its prospect pool.
“There are no ready-made replacements for Jake,” Dubas said. “He’s one of the better wingers in the NHL and certainly has a great chemistry with Sid. They’ve had great success together. That said, one of the fortunate parts is that it creates a major opportunity for our young people here, whether that’s Alex Nylander or (Sam) Poulin. But also, more importantly, that’s one of the things that we tried to address in free agency. Whether it’s Vinnie Hinostroza, Andreas Johnsson, Rem Pitlick … (Radim) Zohorna, (Valtteri) Puustinen, (Joona) Koppanen, (Matt) Nieto, (Drew) O’Connor, all of those guys that have been wanting their own opportunity, a chance to go and get it and now the knock is there at the door. Someone has to answer.
“That’s is the one thing we’re looking forward to in training camp. There is going to be an opening. There is going to be opportunity. We have our own guys that can slide there and do that. (Rickard) Rakell has played with Sid before. I think Reilly Smith can play with Sid. But there’s all those other people that we brought in to try and improve our depth. … This is the opportunity you’ve waited for all this time. You’ve got six weeks to put yourself in the best spot to take advantage of it. I’m just excited to see who comes in and takes it.”