Penguins forward Jake Guentzel could receive a massive pay raise this summer

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Cooper Godin
June 23, 2023 (5:14 PM)

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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel is under contract for one more season and will be an unrestricted free agent in July 2024, but as of Canada Day, next Saturday, he'll be eligible to sign an extension.

Currently, Guentzel earns $6 million per season on his contract and according to The Athletic, the 28-year-old could be looking at over $9 million AAV on his next deal.

"An extension could very well make him the highest-paid player on the team, if he's looking at a deal that pays him more than $9 million on average. But it's also possible, to maintain cost-efficiency, that the Penguins try to keep him below that benchmark."

The Omaha, Nebraska native has quickly become one of the most effective left wingers in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire National Hockey League. He's hit the 40-goal mark twice in his career and 70-point mark three times, including each of the last of the two seasons, putting up 84 and 73, respectively.

Based on their model, Guentzel will get an eight-year contract with a total value of $69.2 million, which works out to $8.675 million AAV, but his salary for the first four years of the deal would be just over $9 million.

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Source: The Athletic