Report: Canucks have ‘serious interest’ in Jake Guentzel as NHL trade deadline looms

The Vancouver Canucks remain highly interested in Pittsburgh Penguins winger and pending UFA Jake Guentzel, Vancouver hockey insider Rick Dhaliwal indicated on Monday’s episode of Donnie & Dhali.

Guentzel, 29, has 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games with the Penguins this season, but he’s been out since sustaining an upper-body injury in a game against the Florida Panthers on February 15.

The Canucks have already traded their 2024 first-round pick, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of the race for Guentzel. Far from it.

“Donnie, I asked this morning if the Canucks are in on Guentzel, and I was told that they’re still poking around on everyone,” Dhaliwal said. “They don’t want to trade a first-round pick, so how do you get a big name without trading a first-round pick? Well, what you do is you put more prospects into a deal that is [for] a bigger name. But I’ve been told this morning that there is serious interest from Vancouver on Guentzel.

Dhaliwal confirmed that the Canucks aren’t interested in trading Jonathan Lekkerimäki or Tom Willander for immediate help.

That doesn’t mean guys like Vasily Podkolzin or Arshdeep Bains could be off the table — especially with the Penguins reportedly looking for players they can plug into their lineup right now.

“They’re pretty serious about trying to make something work with the Penguins,” Dhaliwal said. “[Podkolzin] gets called up, Bains gets called up for four games. I don’t know if Podkolzin is gonna be here long-term and is he getting a run for the rest of the year, Don? Or is he just getting four games like Bains, as well? Is he being showcased? The timing of him coming up, five days, six days before the trade deadline is interesting. And then you hear what the Penguins want, and I think I said this last week, they want two ready-made young players in the NHL today.”

Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin, and Rick Tocchet are all extremely familiar with Guentzel from their own days in Pittsburgh, where they won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun also posted an update about Guentzel on Monday, naming the Canucks and the Vegas Golden Knights as two of the “6-plus legit suitors” for the high-scoring winger.

The Canucks are slated to return to action on Tuesday evening when they take on the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena at 7:30 p.m. PT.