A little over a year after the initial trade, what the Pittsburgh Penguins have from the original Jake Guentzel deal with the Carolina Hurricanes is very different than what they had on the morning of March 8th, 2024.
The conditions on a fifth round pick the Penguins acquired were never met, resulting in Carolina keeping the pick.
Michael Bunting was traded away a few days before the 2024-25 trade deadline, flipping the only NHL-roster player the Penguins had acquired in the deal.
And most recently, prospect forward Vasily Ponomarev has departed North America and returned home to Russia. On June 7th, reports confirmed that Ponomarev had indeed signed a deal in Russia’s KHL, shortly after his KHL rights were traded from Spartak to Avangard.
Ponomarev’s decision was reportedly motivated after the Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas couldn’t “guarantee” a spot on the team’s roster for the upcoming season. It’s always possible that he comes back; the Penguins still hold his NHL rights. But he won’t be a factor this upcoming season.
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Fifth Avenue Sports 