Jake Guentzel as good as gone from Penguins

Well, it appears as though fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins who were hoping to see management manage to negotiate a long-term extension with pending unrestricted free agent forward Jake Guentzel are going to be left disappointed.

According to Nick Kypreos, Guentzel and his camp have rejected an extension that would have kept him with the Penguins until he was 35 years of age that also included a raise of $2.5 million: 

The Penguins made it clear that they are attempting to give it one last go with the famed trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in their lineup despite having missed the playoffs last season for the first time since Crosby's rookie campaign of 2005-06.

The acquisition of Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson along with Stanley Cup champion Reilly Smith paced new President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas' early tenure with the team. However, Karlsson has been a shell of the offensive dynamo he was last season, the Penguins have been up and down, and a postseason spot is anything but a sure thing.

Guentzel has 22 goals and 27 assists in the 46 games that he's played this season, potentially his last with the Penguins.  He's in the final year of his current contract that sees him get paid an AAV of $6 million. Meanwhile, the National Hockey League Trade Deadline for this season falls on March 8. 

With this latest revelation of Guentzel apparently rejecting a long-term pact to remain with the Penguins, don't be surprised to see Kyle Dubas and company move him at the Deadline to try and gain assets for him rather than lose him for nothing on the open market this summer.

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