Molinari: Penguins’ Return for Guentzel is Awful … Unless it Isn’t (+)

The trade that sent Jake Guentzel to Carolina Thursday night just might be the worst in Pittsburgh Penguins history.

OK, there’s actually no chance that it will outdo, say, sending Markus Naslund to Vancouver for Alek Stojanov, but you get the idea.

The Penguins parted with a proven 40-goal scorer in exchange for a package that includes a capable winger, Michael Bunting, and a whole lot of potential that may or may not be realized in future seasons.

That uncertainty is at least part of the reason the initial public reaction to the deal appears to be running the gamut from hostile to hateful, with just about everyone outside of Kyle Dubas’ immediate family panning the return he got for Guentzel. And that might be only because Dubas’ relatives haven’t gone public with their feelings about the trade yet.