Emotional reaction from GM Kyle Dubas on Penguins’ trade deadline

It happened on Thursday night. Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas finally pulled the trigger on a significant trade, moving star forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Michael Bunting , prospects Ville Koivunen , Vasili Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius and conditional first- and fifth-round picks in this summer’s draft.

The first-rounder becomes Philadelphia’s second-rounder if the Hurricanes don’t reach the final, and Pittsburgh only gets the fifth if Carolina wins it all for the second time in franchise history.

After the trade was finalized, captain Sidney Crosby expressed his concerns about this team’s future, while GM Dubas made an emotional statement on trading away Guentzel:

“The decision to trade Jake Guentzel, with his contract set to expire this offseason, was one of the most difficult decisions that I have had to make in my time in management. In my first season with the Penguins, it has become quite clear why Jake means so much to his teammates, all Penguins staff and the City of Pittsburgh. Jake’s competitiveness, tenacity and spirit, combined with his talent have produced some of the greatest moments of this era of Penguins hockey. A born and bred Pittsburgh Penguin, Jake has become a pillar in the community and fan favorite for all the right reasons. We cannot thank Jake and his family enough for their contributions to the Penguins since he was drafted in 2013 and wish him our very best.”

The Penguins will have to make other moves, especially in order to become cap compliant before today’s deadline.
This Guentzel trade seems to have taken a lot out of Dubas, who will need to get his head straight. Rumours have emerged on forwards Reilly Smith and Lars Eller as well, who could both be moved by 3ET pm today. 

While Crosby was hoping to focus on the window of the next few seasons in order to get a quality roster to push for another championship over the start of a rebuild, his general manager clearly proved on Thursday night that there is a significant youth movement coming into the Pittsburgh roster. Even though it was also hard on Dubas…

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