Disaster in Pittsburgh: It's truly the worst timing for an injury to star forward Jake Guentzel
The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently 7 points out of a playoff spot. Despite the major acquisition of Erik Karlsson this summer and contract extensions for Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in the last two years, the team has not met expectations.
The pressure is high in Pittsburgh, but unless there's a surprise, they won't make the playoffs. The time for evaluation is approaching, and it needs to happen before the trade deadline.
Jake Guentzel will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and he refuses to negotiate with the team. It seems he wants to test the free-agent market.
In the current situation, the Penguins may need to trade him before March 8 if they don't want to lose him for nothing. However, the outlook doesn't look promising in that regard either.
Guentzel got injured on Wednesday night and is being evaluated for an upper-body injury. If the injury is serious, it could be disastrous for the Pens, whether the plan is to continue fighting for the playoffs with him or to throw in the towel and trade him.
Kyle Dubas is now facing a significant dilemma. It's becoming clear that the window of competitiveness for the Penguins is closed, and a reshuffling might be necessary sooner than expected.
| POLL | ||
Do you believe the Penguins should trade star players and undergo a rebuild? | ||
| Yes | 279 | 79 % |
| No | 74 | 21 % |
| List of polls | ||
