The Tampa Bay Lightning are only one game into the 2024-25 NHL season, but offseason acquisition Jake Guentzel already feels at home in his new blue and white threads.
Guentzel, 30, assisted on two empty net goals for his first points as a Bolt in last Friday’s season-opening 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.
There has been a lot of change for Guentzel, who continues to adapt and learn in his early time with the Lightning.
“It’s been different, but it’s been a lot of fun to get to know the guys and kind of settle in,” he said after Sunday’s practice at AMALIE Arena.
The forward signed a 7-year, $63 million contract with Tampa Bay this offseason after posting 77 points—the second-highest single season total of his career—in 67 regular season games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes last season.
The Omaha, Nebraska native has 227 goals and 266 assists for 493 points and a plus-71 rating in 521 NHL games played.
Guentzel spent the first 7 ½ seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that drafted him 77th overall in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft. Guentzel flanked Penguins captain Sidney Crosby—who has the 10th most career points (1,800) in NHL history—for nearly his entire tenure in Pittsburgh.
Guentzel continues to play with some of the league’s best players in Tampa.
He begins this season on the Bolts’ top line, joining two players who sit inside the franchise record books' top six in career scoring in defending Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, who scored 46 goals and 90 points in 2023-24.
Guentzel passes aided Kucherov to a hat trick and four points in Friday’s win, while Point scored the Lightning’s first goal of the season 2:33 into the second period.
“Those guys are special players and you’re in awe of what they do with the puck and what they do each day,” Guentzel said of his new linemates. “It’s been a lot of fun so far and hopefully we’ll gain some chemistry coming up here.”
Chemistry between the trio will grow with more repetition and ice time. Point and Kucherov are “big communicators”, Guentzel said, a trait which helps as the latter continues adjusting to his new home.
Guentzel called himself a “competitive” player who seeks to contribute however he can.
“I think the game pretty well, so I just try to get open as much as I can and try to score some goals, too. I just try to be open, and hopefully they (goals) come.”
Among the players excited to have Guentzel on the roster is Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"He's a good player," Vasilevskiy said, "and I'm 100% sure he'll make us a better team. I can't say enough good things about him."
And despite registering two assists in his Tampa Bay debut, Guentzel believes the best is yet to come for him and the Lightning.
“Obviously good to get the team win. We know we can be better,” he said of the opener. “Me personally, I’ve got to be just a little better but still getting comfortable, learning the system and learning some of the guys. Overall good to get the win, but yeah, I think there’s more.”
The Lightning want to keep stacking wins early in the season, and Guentzel should help the team in that effort. The forward figures to be a large cog in the team’s push for an eighth straight Stanley Cup Playoff qualification in 2024-25.
“You always want to win. … That’s the biggest thing is everyone wants to get to the playoffs," Guentzel said. "For me it’s just try to come in and have fun, play my game and don’t change too much.”
Now settled in the Sunshine State with his family, No. 59 looks forward to his first home game at AMALIE Arena this Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Vancouver Canucks.
“It’s going to be fun,” Guentzel said. “It’s been a long time coming and it’s obviously a fun place to play on the road, so I can’t wait to see what it’s like at home."
