Sidney Crosby Is Not Enthused By The Penguins' Jake Guentzel Trade

The NHL trade deadline comes at 3 pm Eastern on Friday afternoon, but one of the bigger trades came Thursday evening with the Pittsburgh Penguins shipping Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes for several players and picks including forward Michael Bunting.

This was inevitable, with Guentzel in the last year of his deal, but Sidney Crosby — who was a longtime linemate of Guentzel's — was clearly not happy about this move.

Crosby is known to be one of the biggest team guys in the NHL. I mean, his fixation on the number 87 has made his $8.7 million salary a relative deal for years and has allowed the Pens to shop around and add players when needed.

So, it was surprising to hear Crosby — after offering a lot of kind words about Guentzel — seemingly so frustrated by the decision to deal his winger.

He was asked what kind of message the trading Guentzel sends

"I don't know," Crosby said. "It's probably a better question for them."

That's a very un-Crosby answer, and I think it goes to show that the Penguins are completely rudderless right now.

Kyle Dubas was brought in to help right the ship, but there doesn't seem to be much direction. The Penguin's core of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang isn't getting any younger, but the returns indicate that it may be time to enter a rebuild in Pittsburgh.

While Guentzel would probably command a pay raise when he cuts his next deal, you'd think it would make more sense to pay the 29-year-old Guenztel a little more, and maybe move on from someone like Evgeni Malkin.

However, Dubas handcuffed himself with the decision to sign Erik Karlsson at $10 million a year, with so-so results.

They'll have some decisions to make in the next year or so, as Crosby will become a UFA after the next season. I think I can make a good guess of what his AAV will be, but will he want to stay in Pittsburgh or go chase another Cup somewhere else, perhaps in Colorado with his buddy Nate MacKinnon?

We'll see.

And we'll also see how this deal will pan out for the Hurricanes. Can Guentzel — who is currently on his way back from injury — maintain his form without one of the best to ever do it on his line?