Lightning sign Jake Guentzel, take top pending free agent off the market

TAMPA — In a less messy situation, this would have been Jake Guentzel’s moment. But the biggest deal to an incoming player in Lightning history almost served as a sidebar to what the organization lost during Monday’s opening of free agency.

There is no question fans should be excited for Guentzel’s arrival after he signed a seven-year contract worth an average annual value of $9 million. But he might be forever linked to the player the organization showed the door to on the same day: longtime captain Steven Stamkos.

Guentzel, 29, has all the tools to make the Lightning a better team. He has a knack for finding scoring chances around the net and has meshed with elite talent, so he should fit well on the left wing of Tampa Bay’s top line alongside Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

But it didn’t take long during his first media availability for Guentzel to get questions about the pressure he might endure essentially replacing the longtime face of the Lightning. Stamkos finalized an acrimonious split with the organization minutes after free agency opened at noon by signing a four-year deal with Nashville with an annual average value of $8 million.

“Look, he’s a Hall of Famer, he’s a special player,” Guentzel said. “I have the utmost respect for the guy. He’s just an unbelievable player and person from what I’ve heard. ...

“Obviously this opportunity for me and my family, it was just tough to pass up. In this hockey game, there’s going to be pressure wherever you play, so I feel like you’ve just got to make sure you make the most of the opportunity.”

Guentzel has made the most of his throughout his career.

He won a Stanley Cup during his rookie season in Pittsburgh in 2016-17, leading the league with 13 playoff goals, including five game-winners. He capitalized on his top-line role alongside players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, recording 30 or more goals each of the past three seasons. And he boosted his free-agency stock when he joined Carolina at this past season’s trade deadline, averaging 1.47 points down the stretch, then adding nine points in 11 playoff games.

“We feel in the last few years, in terms of fit for what we were looking for, Jake is probably as high of the perfect fit as we’re going to find,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Highly competitive, high hockey IQ, high level of skill, competes all over the ice, makes plays all over the ice, has an ability to finish, big-game player. Like he’s a Bolt who happened to not have been playing for the Bolts in the past, and today we can remedy that.”

Once the Lightning pivoted from re-signing Stamkos, Guentzel became the team’s top target. After trading highest-paid defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and underperforming forward Tanner Jeannot Saturday and halting conversations to retain Stamkos, Tampa Bay went from a team with just $5.335 million in cap room to one with $16.5 million.

After Guentzel and Carolina couldn’t come to an agreement, the Lightning traded for his rights Sunday, finalizing a deal with him three hours before free agency opened.

“It’s been definitely a little bit of a whirlwind kind of the first time through this whole process, but obviously things just didn’t work out in Carolina,” Guentzel said. “And then I heard Tampa might be trading for my rights and obviously got really excited, because everyone hears how good of a team and how good of a spot this is.”

Guentzel received the largest salary for an offseason addition in Lightning history. The seven-year term on his deal matched what the franchise offered Ryan Malone in the summer of 2008.

“There’s just the positives about Tampa, and there just seems to be so many of them: living the lifestyle, the atmosphere in the rink is unbelievable,” Guentzel said. “And if (the money) is part of it, too, that’s great. So there’s just a lot of things behind the scenes that you’re really excited for. It’s going to be a really fun time.”

BriseBois utilized his newfound cap space and Florida’s favorable tax situation to construct a contract Guentzel couldn’t refuse. More than $53 million of the deal’s total value is in signing bonuses, giving him nearly 85% of his money up front every season, including a $12.263 million signing bonus this season.

Guentzel will play at a base salary of $1 million in six of the seven years. The contract includes a full no-move clause in the first four years and a modified clause with a 10-team trade list for the final three years.

BriseBois has been consistent throughout the offseason in saying the Lightning need to get better defensively after ranking 22nd in the league in goals allowed. The acquisition of Guentzel achieves that, giving the team a responsible two-way, 5-on-5 player who can slide into the left wing on the first line.

Guentzel excelled for years in Pittsburgh playing alongside one of the game’s best playmakers in Crosby. Now he will skate with the league’s top playmaking right wing in Kucherov and former 50-goal scorer Point on a formidable top line.

“Those two guys especially are just elite players in this league, top players in the league, and from afar those two guys you try to watch more times than anyone,” Guentzel said. “They obviously can score a lot of goals and make a lot of plays. ...

“I’ve had the experience of playing with good players, and if I get the chance to play with those guys it’s going to be really fun for me, and I can’t wait.”

Other moves

• The Lightning added another forward, signing Zemgus Girgensons to a three-year contract worth $850,000 annually. Girgensons, 30, had eight goals and 14 points in 63 games with Buffalo this past season. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, he plays a physical game and should slot in as a bottom-six forward option.

• The two players the Lightning acquired at the trade deadline signed elsewhere. Forward Anthony Duclair inked a deal with the Islanders (four years, $3.5 million average annual value), and defenseman Matt Dumba went to the Stars (two years, $3.75 million). Defenseman Calvin de Haan, who signed a one-year deal with the Lightning last July, moved on to the Avalanche (one year, $800,000).

• The Lightning also signed four players to one-year, two-way contracts: defensemen Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Derrick Pouliot, Steven Santini and forward Jesse Ylönen. Ylönen, 24, is a former second-round pick who played 59 games with Montreal last year, recording four goals and eight points. The Canadiens did not make him a qualifying offer.

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