Photo credit: PittsburghHockeyNow
Kyle Dubas Responds To Jake Guentzel's Comments After Trade
Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas responded to former Penguin Jake Guentzel after he discussed being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. He expressed no hard feelings although Guentzel might disagree.
Guentzel returns to Pittsburgh for first game as a visitor
Kyle Dubas signified the end of an era when he traded Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this year. Tuesday marked the first time Guentzel returned to Pittsburgh as the Carolina Hurricanes visited the team for a one-game road trip. Penguins fans were exceptionally welcoming of their former winger.
Thunderous and deserving standing ovation for Jake Guentzel:
Guentzel himself was clearly touched by the choruses of cheers that came from the sold out crowd. He could be seen tearing up on the Hurricanes bench as the team showed a highlight reel of his best moments as a Penguin on the jumbotron.
Jake Guentzel gets emotional after watching tribute video from the Penguins in his return to Pittsburgh 🥲
The game would not go Guentzel's way as his former club pulled off the unlikely 4-1 victory. It won't be enough for the Penguins though as they are all but eliminated from playoff contention.
Dubas and Guentzel exchange words about trade to Hurricanes
After the game, reporters were curious about how Guentzel felt about the trade. His response was a bit shocking as he revealed he never wanted to leave the team.
Jake Guentzel spoke out on his trade from Pittsburgh to Carolina. 👀
The answer evoked a response from Kyle Dubas, who felt the need to address Guentzel's comments. He reiterated that the plan was to make the playoffs this season, but with that not being realistic, he had to do what was best for the team.
"He's entitled to his opinion, especially in this market, to give his opinion. What I would say is that going into this year, I hoped that everything would go to the most optimistic viewpoint, we would be a contending team, and that would dictate decision-making differently than it did."
Dubas went on to say that Guentzel being traded was more or less a coincidence. It just happened to be him that was on an expiring contract. He implied that if it were someone else, they would have been traded too.
"I'm sorry that it ended up being Jake as the one whose contract was up at that time that's how he feels about it. Especially right after a game, competitors like Jake are emotional. He's entitled to feel how he feels, and I don't take umbrage at all."
While the NHL involves a lot of big personalities, at the end of the day, moves are rarely personal. Dubas was just doing what he thought was the best move for his team at the time. Hopefully Guentzel will be able to see this after the emotions of the season die down.
Source HockeyFeed: Kyle Dubas hits back at «emotional» Jake Guentzel
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