Pens Points: Guentzel for America

Jake (and others) plan to play in Worlds and taking a look at the Penguins restricted free agency situation.

Happy Thursday, Pensburgh readers. Not much going on surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins at the moment but every passing day is one day closer to finding out who the new general manager will be and what their plans on for reshaping the team to get them back in contention. For today, it’s just some news on a few Penguins heading to Europe for Worlds and some nuggets on how the team may handle its restricted free agents.

Pens Points...

Jake Guentzel may not have the opportunity to tear it up in the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring you’ll still be able to catch him in action next month as he prepare to represent the United States at the IIFH World Championships. [Pensburgh]

Many were left scratching their heads when the Penguins signed Josh Archibald last summer in free agency, but for the most part, Archibald worked out just fine in his return to Pittsburgh but likely not enough to see him brought back next season. [Trib Live]

Unrestricted free agents garner most of the attention when it comes to the offseason but the Penguins have 11 restricted free agents to make decisions on as well. Some of those with RFA status are high priority and should get a bigger role if they come back. [The Hockey News]

As with most restricted free agents, those guys are young and many are still looking for a real shot in the NHL. If the young guys are brought back and given an opportunity next season, it will be on them to step up when asked. [The Hockey News]