As the title asks, how do we feel about the trade? The basic consensus when the trade broke Pittsburgh didn’t receive any top prospects. Seems like someone must have known he was a rental or at the least him resigning wasn’t likely.
Still time for him to resign, just unlikely at this point from what reports are saying.
by Boone8725
45 Comments
Fine. It’s always a chance you take.
The “reports” also said RBA was going to another team.
Don’t believe reports. They are writing to sell newspaper ads. You just let them win.
Easier to answer now, but hard to tell the truth as to how you felt with your team’s increased chances with the addition.
– Oil fan who wanted to avenge ‘06 real bad
It’s fine. Like you said, we didn’t give up anything huge to get him, and it was a worthwhile gamble in support of a potential Cup run.
It’s a real shame he doesn’t appear to be staying, because he has fantastic chemistry with Aho and genuinely made the team better, but those were always the table stakes.
Even if he leaves I’m fine with it. We took a chance and went for it in what should be been a very good year. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out how we all hoped but at least we tried.
We barely gave up anything of value for someone that improved the team and heavily contributed. Good trade.
If we can keep him , great, if not, no worries, means a spot opened up for a ahl prospect to make the team
I’d make that trade every time.
He had the most points post deadline of any deadline player in the history of the NHL. He had 9 points in 11 games in the playoffs.
Without a doubt, he was *exactly* who the Hurricanes wanted when making that deal. That alone makes it worthwhile.
Adding to it, the change in approach by the FO was great to see. They knew what they needed, they got what they needed without leveraging too much of the future. I’d also argue that is was helpful to realize what Aho looked like paired with a complete winger, something they’ll pay attention to moving forward.
What reports state he’s unlikely to resign. All I’ve seen is he wants to see what sort of offers he gets.
Potentially underrated part of the trade:
It is my suspicion that Bunting did not fit exactly what RBA wanted in terms of defensive play and fitting into the system. If that is true, moving him out to clear his cap space for this summer is a blessing in disguise.
May be wrong, but if I am right, it makes the trade look even better for us.
A lot better than I’ve ever felt about the KK move. Can’t help but feel like that little pecker measuring contest cost us a Cup in this window.
We had to take a swing at some point. He was great for us and we didn’t have to sell the farm. Will never understand people disappointed with his performance when there’s evidence he was one of the most productive deadline pickups in NHL history.
He was fine, seemed like a likable person and player. If these are the only games he plays with the Canes I think it was kind of forgettable. I guess I expected more of an impact.
If he’s unlikely to resign, then that means he’s staying with us! Huge win!
Didn’t give up much, so ultimately hamless.
Eh we went all in without giving away the farm and choked … sports are pain my friends 😂
We’ve been begging the team for years to take a swing at the trade deadline and they did it. He played well but the stars didn’t align. That’s the risk you take. Contenders are supposed to take a risk to go all-in but only one of them wins in the end. If we hadn’t gotten him, we’d all be bitching about another year where the team didn’t do anything to try to move the needle at the deadline.
I’d still love to have him back, he seemed to mesh well here. But if not, we took our shot and didn’t give up anything critical to rent him, and if he’s not resigning we suddenly have a lot more cap flexibility.
If you’re serious about winning the cup this is 100% a trade you need to make. He also lived up to his end of the bargain after the trade.
It’s fine. You gotta shoot your shot
I’d like to see him stay but the kind of contract he’s going to be looking for we aren’t likely to (and shouldn’t) entertain.
Didn’t cost much, solved “the Bunting problem”. Right guy, right time, he had fun, we had fun. I can appreciate it for what it was and now it’s time to move on and I’m ok with that.
No regrets here.
Would love to have him back
Wish we could still keep ‘em somehow, need him with other key’s if we want the cup
Pretty neutral. We didn’t give up our top-5 prospects to get him and we dumped Bunting’s contract considering he didn’t gel with the team or system here in the first place. He was outstanding in his time here and the front office sent the right message with this move: when the right time comes, the front office won’t hesitate to make a ballsy move that they think will get us over the hump.
I don’t think the trade was a bad deal, but I am slightly worried about where it leaves us if neither Guentzel or Necas want to stay. I haven’t been too impressed by the hypothetical trades for Necas that I’ve seen.
I am an emotional leaf on the wind.
he could still be back. he would be a fool to not taste that FA market, and if he likes what we do here, he can make that decision after seeing whats out there.
probably gone, but you never know. I wouldnt put any stock in the fact that hes going to free agency, of course he should
We didn’t mortgage the future and got the best rental player on the market. Hope he re-signs but no regrets if he does not.
For the record… it’s “re-sign”, not resign.
I’m fine with it. Bunting wasn’t good and Koivunen may never play in North America. In life, you sometimes have to take risks. We took a chance and it didn’t work out. The biggest reason (IMO) we failed is because Rod kept going back to a dull Freddie. Freddie was awful and the main reason we couldn’t advance. Guentzel didn’t score much and some team (not us) will through stupid money at him. I’d focus on trying to either keep Necas or structuring a good deal to get some talent back.
Worth. Bunting was solid, and I liked the prospects, but we didn’t give away top prospects. Guentzel was amazing and unlocked the top line in a wild way. Gave us extra firepower and wasn’t the reason we got eliminated. I still hope we can work something out but even if we can’t it was worth the swing
Great trade regardless of whether Guentzel returns or not. Bunting wasn’t a real fit in Carolina and not having to give up top prospects means Canes didn’t overpay for a rental. All the stars were aligning to make a deep run and adding Guentzel was going all-in. It didn’t happen for the canes but that’s hockey. I would do the deal 10/10.
It was still worth it. That’s how these deals work
Worth it, had to take the shot. Trade his UFA rights for like a 5th to get a tiny bit back and we say we tried. This does free up some money though which helps
It was a trade to push for the cup with an amazing rental. He was worth it and showed up in the playoffs. Didn’t cost top prospects.
Jake really wasn’t here long enough to become part of the “family” so I can see why so many people are glad he came but not that upset if he goes elsewhere. I think we all recognize he would be a huge benefit to the team, but at what price.
The lesson should absolutely not be “never shoot your shot.”
Tbh I hoped he’d stay but was almost certain he was just a rental
You can’t be upset at the trade, the results paid off great and he was as advertised, it’s not his fault or GMDW’s fault that we got out coached and the wheels fell off our goalie again
If we can keep him, awesome. If not, it’s still the correct move to make 10 times out of 10. The team was objectively better, we didn’t mortgage our future to make the trade, and now he’s not going to kneecap us in AAV. Sucks we didn’t get it done but it wasn’t because of him.
I hope we do something similar every year. We gave up VERY little and got exactly what we wanted.
I haven’t seen anything that says he’s “unlikely to sign”
Still had fun would do it again
Loved the move then. Love the move even without him resigning. Wish he could come back and hope everything we’re reading is inaccurate.
Wanted to point out that going for and getting the biggest piece at the trade also has to be a good thing for the locker room. Had to inspire more confidence in both management and ownership. They showed they believed in a big way and I think that extra rep or extra sprint is going to be a little bit easier this offseason and we’ll see the benefit of that next May/June
We can’t really afford him anyway for the long term deal he is going to want. That is alright. To be honest I won’t be shocked at all if he just ends up back on Pittsburgh with a longer term deal