Had he wanted to, Jake Guentzel could’ve turned the screws. He and his agent, Ben Hankinson, could’ve attempted to juice every possible cent out of the Penguins, perhaps sitting out training camp or even the 2019-20 regular season.
Had he wanted to, Guentzel could’ve turned his contract situation into a referendum on arbitration rights or how young, talented and productive players deserve to be compensated.
Guentzel had no such interest.
Hankinson talked to Guentzel about the pros and cons about his contract situation, how it might make sense to wait and try to drive up his value as much as possible, but Guentzel wanted nothing of it.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, perhaps watching the NHL’s trend of restricted free agents pushing to get paid, got more aggressive with his offer over Christmas, and a second push — actually on Christmas Eve — worked.
“As his agent, I wouldn’t have minded,” said Hankinson about making a statement with the five-year, $30 million deal Guentzel signed Thursday. “But I’m not lacing up the skates.
“Maybe he could have gotten a little more, but at the same time, Jake is really happy and thankful for this opportunity and commitment.”
Guentzel didn’t want to become the next William Nylander, who signed an extension will Toronto on Dec. 1, only after a bunch of fuss and back-and-forth.
Stuff that, evidently, didn’t interest Guentzel in the least.
“It was all about Jake’s respect for the organization and the team and kind of not wanting to go through that process,” Hankinson said. “He loves it there.”
Such talks may soon happen elsewhere, though, as many of the NHL’s brightest young stars — Auston Matthews in Toronto, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Mikko Rantanen in Colorado — are on expiring entry-level deals.
Rutherford and Hankinson first broached the idea of an extension back in late September, during the USHL Fall Classic. They met a couple times, and Hankinson said Rutherford made a respectable offer — but not enough to finalize a deal.
“Jimmy got more serious, and we got it done,” Hankinson said of contract talks that heated up on Christmas Eve and basically finished on Dec. 26.
“You don’t like to see a player hold out,” Rutherford said after practice Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “You want them in the start of camp. You want them to be happy and comfortable.
“I think with this player, getting him done at this point in time, he knows where he’s going to be, he loves it in Pittsburgh, he wants to be with the Penguins.
“To know he’s going to be here for the next number of years, it’s important.”
Guentzel, 24, has shown that he’s absolutely worthy of this sort of contract extension, whether that’s with his career numbers — his per-game averages nearly match those of Nylander, who after this season will make nearly $7 million — or his postseason performance.
But after Nylander has struggled in his return and the RFA/contract rumblings grow louder, Rutherford turned up the intensity and did his best to avoid having that sort of situation on his hands.
“Probably over the last 10 days it got a lot more serious,” Rutherford said. “Got to a number that made sense for both sides.”
A number, too, that Rutherford said would not seriously impact the Penguins’ salary-cap situation for next season.
For one, the salary cap is expected to rise to $83 million from $79.5 million, which gives the Penguins some wiggle room.
The Penguins also have some restricted free agents in Derick Brassard, Chad Ruhwedel, Derek Grant, Matt Cullen (retirement) and maybe even Riley Sheahan, who could easily not be back.
“This doesn’t put us in any cap difficulty for what our projections are and what our vision of the team is,” Rutherford said.
The key, of course, will be back-filling some of those roles, specifically in the bottom six.
That’s where guys such as Teddy Blueger, Adam Johnson and Thomas Di Pauli, forward prospects with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, will need to take the next step and work on cheaper contracts.
“If you’re going to be successful in the cap world, you have to have some guys coming who are going to be at the lower end of the pay scale,” Rutherford said.
For now, though, this deal was more about Guentzel, a player who has produced in the playoffs and somebody Rutherford really likes.
Guentzel already has 23 goals and 42 points in 37 playoff games and 53 goals and 114 points in 159 regular-season games.
This season, Guentzel has been remarkably consistent, with points in 62 percent (23 of 37) of his games and only once going longer than four games (seven from Oct. 27-Nov. 10) without a goal.
“I don’t even think he’s gotten as good as he’s going to be,” Rutherford said.
That’s why Rutherford was happy to avoid offer sheets or holdouts or any of that sort of stuff and simply get Guentzel under contract for the next five years.
“He’s been a good player for us from day one,” Rutherford said. “He’s proven himself to be one of our core players. When you have a player like that, it’s important that you get them locked up.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG
First Published: December 28, 2018, 7:33 p.m.
Updated: December 28, 2018, 9:24 p.m.