When news first broke that Jake Guentzel would become the newest member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, it created waves all throughout Tampa Bay. In an era of drastic change leaving behind Steven Stamkos and Mikhail Sergachev, Guentzel added more noise to a busy offseason.
Fans did not know what to think or even what to expect from the newest Bolt, as he had great shoes to fill. Despite all the talk surrounding him, Guentzel proved resilient.
Guentzel in his first year a Bolt provided consistency and goal scoring. The 30 year-old veteran per the NHL saw a reliable 80 points in 80 games during his top-six venture. He even was able to achieve a career high in goals with 41 goals over 80 games as listed by the NHL. Known for his ability to play alongside top talent such as Sidney Crosby and Sebastian Aho, Guentzel felt right at home and continued his stellar play.
His stellar play did not stop there as he was easily one of the Lightning’s best players in the Bolt’s latest playoff series. Although the Lightning had an early exit, the NHL has Guentzel standing tall leading the team in goals and points throughout the 2024-2025 playoffs.
Julien Brisebois, the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning had a tough decision to make last year: Do you resign Steven Stamkos or do you let him go? While the decision was controversial, what is not controversial is the fact that Brisebois needed to make a move. Bringing in Guentzel had risks, as any classic hockey business decision does. Any NHL general manager would leap at the opportunity to look into the future in order to determine if they truly made the right decision. Unfortunately, that ability does not exist as of yet.
In bringing Jake Guentzel to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brisbois was hoping for Guentzel to continue his top-line play with the likes of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. While fans dearly miss Stamkos, fans should be loving what they saw from Jake Guentzel during the 2024-2025 regular season and playoffs.
For Jake Guentzel, he is someone that the NHL has listed as playing for three teams during the single year of 2024; those teams being the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Carolina Hurricanes, and of course, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Learning three different systems in a single year with little time to acclimate is difficult for any single individual hockey player. Yet for Guentzel, he has been able to succeed.
Kucherov on Jake Guentzel: "He is a very smart player and it is a lot of fun to play with him. We are really happy to have him and I think he is just going to get better and feel more confident and comfortable here" pic.twitter.com/XIJTjLWfps
— Gabby Shirley (@Gabby_Shirley_) May 2, 2025
Now with a full regular season under his belt with the Jon Cooper system, Guentzel is ready to hopefully take his offensive game to the next level. Guentzel was a remarkable forward for the Bolts and is poised to continue being remarkable next season. He has comfortably made himself at home in the 813 and Lightning fans should be excited to see what Guentzel can do next year.