#FreeJakeGuentzel

With the Penguins stuck smack dab in the middle of their first true losing streak since December of 2015 there are a lot of things that could use a shake-up.

There’s Trevor Daley who has regressed to the mean of his play before he joined the Penguins. He has yet to post a CF% of greater than 50 on the season (Last week when I checked everyone was at 50.5 or above except Daley who sat at 47). There’s the two goalie system that sometimes seems to work about as well with two good goalies as it does in Dallas with two not-good ones. But the real issue seems to be stagnation. The team doesn’t seem to have that jolt of electricity that shivered under the surface last spring. But, luckily, the place to get it is only 266.4 miles away and the price is pretty much nothing.

Jake Guentzel is obliterating the American Hockey League right now. It’s actually kind of sad at some points the way he makes entire teams down there look foolish. I think being the first player to 20 goals in the AHL even with missing time from an NHL call-up illustrates that nicely. But if that doesn’t do it for you consider his month of December in which he was named AHL Rookie of the Month and his stat line which currently sits at 21 G 21 A and 42 points in 33 games. He’s ready. And the only time I’ve felt that electric buzz this year was during the handful of games he was on the ice.

Which brings me to our mission, operation get Jake from the farm or #freeJakeGuentzel. Sure getting him to Pittsburgh would be easy. It’s as simple as a call-up but the reason the kid isn’t here now is that there are no spots for him no matter how at home he looked playing top-six minutes in the NHL. So let’s look at a couple ways to make the space:

Send Wilson down.

Scott Wilson isn’t a bad player. He’s a fine one, I’m sure. But for all we hear about him we rarely see him cash in on all his promised “potential.” He has flashes of brilliance but can’t seem to string that brilliance together for a stretch of more than a handful of games. Plus, he’s waiver-exempt. They can easily send him down and bring the kid up. As for his spot? They’d likely shuffle lines to put Guentzel up higher in the line-up and could easily pull someone like Kunitz to fill that spot.  Plus, Wilson’s scored in the AHL on a pace much like Guentzel’s so it’s actually a really good fit and ensures the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins continue their strong play.

Trade Fehr 

Eric Fehr is a lovely person. He wrote a book to talk about bullying. He has a newborn son whose middle name is Stanley for the cup he hoisted last spring. He is also not working as a Pittsburgh Penguin. Not now. Not anymore.

That fourth line is run by and through Matt Cullen. Eric Fehr is mostly just an expensive out-of-place guy. He’s not playing his natural position (Cullen centers the line while Fehr is also actually a center) and he doesn’t look comfortable. More than once he’s been put in the press box in favor of young guys like Kuhnhackl despite the fact his cap hit is considerably more than his German counterpart’s. In fact, he’s the only veteran the team has consistently scratched when play hasn’t been up to expectations.

So let him go. Find him a place where his heavier, methodical and slower style of play will fit in. Find him a home for a few picks or a depth player. Package him as part of a larger deal. Just do something! Because much like David Perron before him it’s becoming plain that he’s a square peg in a very round hole.

Just call the kid up

This would be my choice. Just call him up and then figure out what to do. Sit Fehr until hes traded, let Wilson eat press box nachos, whatever! Just get the kid where he belongs, playing with Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby. It adds a shake-up, it brings in depth and he’s fresh. He’s a kid! He’s like the energizer bunny on a team of guys who barely had any summer.

Call him up now, figure it out later.

As the Penguins season continues it gets tougher and tougher. It’s hardly panic time right now, I mean come on its January. But, the metropolitan division is the best in hockey right now. The team can’t afford to be figuring it out during the stretch run when they play the bulk of their division games. They need to start tinkering now, in January, while they still have time to figure it out and hit their stride in March. So get Jake up here and starting finding his fit.