The NHL is increasingly a young man's game and it's a league whose salary structure is about to be redefined by a handful of young superstars.
Jake Guentzel is certainly among that group.
The 24-year-old was among a crop of top-end, young talents -- a list which includes Auston Matthews, Brayden Point, Matthew Tkachuk, Mitch Marner, Patrick Laine, Brock Boeser, Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho -- that can become restricted free agents this summer.
Well, the Penguins won't have to worry about that now.
On Thursday, the Penguins took care of Guentzel, signing him to a five-year, $30 million extension that begins with the 2019-20 season and carries through 2023-24. It'll have no impact on the current season's salary cap.
"Everyone kind of knows it's your contract year and whatnot, a little extra stress, but we were able to get it done midseason," Guentzel said. "At this point, it kind of helps everyone."
Guentzel, 24, has 15 goals and 18 assists in 36 games this season, having spent almost all of it alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line. He was fresh off another two-goal output Saturday in the 3-0 shutout of the Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. In 158 regular-season NHL games, he has 53 goals and 61 assists, but he's made his biggest mark in 37 Stanley Cup playoff games with 23 goals and 19 assists.
“Jake established himself as an impact player for our team from the beginning, especially during the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs,” Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “He has become a core player on the team and we are thrilled to get Jake signed long-term with the Penguins.”
It's Guentzel's postseason success that separates him from all of the NHL's other young stars. His 23 playoff goals are three more than the eight aforementioned pending RFAs have scored combined in their careers.
It's also what makes quantifying Guentzel's salary so unique. He's a career .72 points per game player in the regular-season -- including .92 this season -- but that number jumps to 1.14 in the playoffs.
"Big part of our team, obviously, and he's a great kid," said Matt Murray. "It's always nice to see guys get rewarded. He's very deserving."
As good as Guentzel has been, the Penguins clearly believe in his future.
In this, his third, season, Guentzel's game has shown a marked maturity. Not only has he found the back of the net more consistently -- he's gone two games without a point just twice -- he's being relied on more heavily. Guentzel is averaging 18:41 in ice time per game, an increase of over two minutes from what he was playing last season (16:29) when he appeared in all 82 games. Mike Sullivan has also turned to using him on the penalty kill in recent weeks alongside Crosby.
"We're certainly thrilled for him, but we're thrilled for the Penguins as well," Sullivan said. "We just think it's a great deal for both sides, I think. I couldn't be happier for him, but certainly to have a guy that's as quality a player as he is and as quality a person as he is, to get him under contract for a handful of years is only going to make us better."
In extending Guentzel in midseason, Rutherford also avoids a potentially contentious negotiation this July. With the number of quality third-year players on expiring entry level contracts, there have been more than a few rumblings that NHL general managers might get aggressive in handing out offer sheets.
Toronto's William Nylander, who ended his holdout at the beginning of December, set the market for this summer's RFA class when he signed a six-year, $41.77-million contract that carries an AAV of $6.9 million.
Nylander was coming off a pair of 61-point seasons, 13 more than Guentzel scored in 2017-18. However, the Maple Leafs' center, the eighth overall pick in 2014, has just two goals in 13 playoff games.
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