Jake Guentzel could make Hurricanes debut Tuesday vs. Rangers

Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters on Tuesday that Jake Guentzel, the team’s biggest acquisition at the Trade Deadline, could make his debut Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.

Guentzel, who hasn’t played since Feb. 14 due to an upper-body injury, was acquired by the Hurricanes last Thursday for Michael Bunting, a trio of prospects and two conditional draft picks.

In 50 games with the Penguins this season, the 29-year-old has 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points. His point total would be second on the team behind Sebastian Aho’s 68 points. Through eight NHL seasons, Guentzel, whom Pittsburgh drafted in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has 219 goals and 247 assists for 466 points in 503 career games.

Guentzel is in the final season of a five-year, $30 million contract signed ahead of the 2019-20 season.The native of Omaha, Ne. made an impact in the league right away, being part of the Penguins’ second of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17, scoring 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 25 games.

The Hurricanes also acquired forward Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third-round pick in 2025. The move comes after Kuznetsov cleared waivers following his time with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

This season, Kuznetsov has scored six goals and 17 points in 43 games for Washington. He’s on pace for 32 points over an 82-game season.

The Hurricanes are 39-19-6 with 84 points, second in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve won three straight and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Tuesday’s game has extra ramifications as the Hurricanes are four points behind the Rangers for the division lead. Both teams only have 18 games left in the season.