LATEST | Important update on the Canucks' possible blockbuster deal for Jake Guentzel

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel is primarily expected to be traded before Friday's trade deadline. Arguably the most coveted trade piece on the market, the 29-year-old will yield a significant return for the Penguins. He is set to become a UFA on July 1st.

As previously reported, the Canucks expressed interest in Guentzel but were unwilling to move top prospects Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Tom Wallinder. This left many believing that the team did not have the necessary pieces to facilitate a trade. However, rumblings throughout the league emerged that the club may be willing to part ways with recently acquired Elias Lindholm to make a trade work. The Swede has been struggling since putting on a Canucks uniform, with just four goals since being traded from Calgary.

On Wednesday, Rick Dhaliwhal reported on the Donnie & Dhali Podcast that the Canucks were "very aggressively" trying to make a trade work. He mentioned the recent recalling of Vasily Podkolzin as a way to showcase potential trade pieces (though Podkolzin recorded zero points through two games and has since been sent down).

Perhaps bringing more likeliness to a potential Lindholm/Guentzel trade is a trade from 2018 which sent Tanner Pearson to the Penguins (then managed by Jim Rutherford), who then sent Pearson to the Canucks at the trade deadline just three months later. Donnie & Dhali wonder if GMJR may be willing to pull off a similar move.


Guentzel has 52 points in 50 games this season, second on the Penguins to Sidney Crosby.