Penguins send Jake Guentzel to Carolina for Michael Bunting, 3 prospects and 2 conditional picks

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jake Guentzel is heading to Carolina.

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded the high-scoring forward to the Hurricanes on Thursday night in exchange for forward Michael Bunting, prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasili Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius and conditional first- and fifth-round picks in this year’s draft.

The first-rounder becomes Philadelphia’s second-rounder if the Hurricanes don’t reach the final, and Pittsburgh only gets the fifth if Carolina wins it all for the second time in franchise history.

“The decision to trade Jake Guentzel, with his contract set to expire this offseason, was one of the most difficult decisions that I have had to make in my time in management," first-year general manager/director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said, adding that Guentzel had become a pillar in the community and a fan favorite. “Jake’s competitiveness, tenacity and spirit, combined with his talent have produced some of the greatest moments of this era of Penguins hockey.”