CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Jake Guentzel has answered a lot of questions since he broke into the NHL during the 2016-17 season.
Nonetheless, at least one intriguing one remains: Is he capable of being a 50-goal man someday?
Guentzel is coming off a 40-goal season, which isn't close to serious flirtation with 50, but it's worth noting that only six of those goals came on the power play. That's significant because of the 11 times an NHL player has scored 50 or more goals during the past 10 seasons, none ever got fewer than 12 with the man-advantage.
If Guentzel is chosen to fill Phil Kessel's old spot on the No. 1 power-play unit, his output when the Penguins have an extra man could spike, pushing him closer to 50. Whether he'll audition for that role isn't clear, for a couple of reasons: The Penguins haven't done any special-teams work yet, and there's no shortage of qualified candidates for the niche Kessel filled on the left side.
"We have so many guys who can go in his spot," Guentzel said. "You never know what they're going to do. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of different options, a lot of guys going in and out."
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