It’s that time of year. Training camps are just under a month away and opening rankings for the 2022-23 season are flying around. NHL Network released their top 20 wingers list late Sunday evening, and Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Jake Guentzel slotted in at number 14.
Guentzel is entering his seventh season in the NHL and with the Penguins. He quickly established himself back in the 2016-17 season, scoring two goals in his first game and followed that up with 31 points (14-17) in the final 39 games of that season.
Since then, Guentzel has become one of the premier goal scorers in the NHL, leading the Penguins in goals twice, eclipsing the 40-goal mark in both instances. The 27-year-old winger has also found success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Guentzel nearly set a record for playoff goals by a rookie during the 2017 playoffs, scoring 13 goals en route to a Stanley Cup Championship, but falling one short of the record set by Dino Ciccarelli in 1981. Throughout his career, Guentzel has scored 58 points. (34-24) in 58 playoff games.
Last season, Guentzel shared the Penguins team points lead with Sidney Crosby. He scored a career-high 84 points (40-44) in 76 games.
This accolade is a nice feather in the cap for Guentzel heading into the prime of his career, but an even greater milestone happened to the Minnesota native last week. Guentzel and his wife Natalie welcomed their first child, Charlie.
Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin ranked 5th and 18th respectively on NHL Network’s centers list last week. With the defense and goaltending lists still in the works, Guentzel won’t be the last Penguins player to be recognized before the start of training camp on September 22nd.