Jake Guentzel will be worth the short wait
The Carolina Hurricanes knew Jake Guentzel wouldn’t be ready to play immediately after they made one of the deadline’s biggest trades. Unlike Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was able to play right after they acquired him. But Carolina fans can expect Guentzel on the ice sooner rather than later, and when he does, expect a transformation over these next few months when the 29-year-old takes the ice.
Although he is a likely rental in Raleigh, unlike Hertl in Vegas, it doesn’t mean Guentzel won't make an impact for a team that is already trending in the right direction from a scoring standpoint. Just a few days ago, Carolina ranked closer to the middle of the league in scoring at 13th, but after a successful weekend that saw them put up 11 goals and 15 in their last three contests, just wait until they add the former Pittsburgh Penguin.
Carolina has been a great team defensively, so when Guentzel provides that final puzzle piece to the offense - plus better defense than you may think - you have to ask, “Who will beat Carolina?”
Or, at least beat them by multiple goals, because with Guentzel, the Hurricanes may be a better team than the Florida Panthers, the Boston Bruins, and the New York Rangers, at least on paper. Okay, so maybe it’s farfetched to list the Panthers, but not for the reason you may think.