Shirey: Trade Guentzel? Forget about it

Jake Guentzel.A 36-goal season is hard to complain about. It's even more difficult when it came at the price of a $6 million cap hit. Yet it felt as though Jake Guentzel wasn't at his best in 2022-23.

That, of course, is because of the high bar he set for himself immediately after making the jump to the NHL. You know, scoring twice in his debut, tying a rookie record for points in a postseason, then blossoming into a force next to Sidney Crosby.

Once new, elevated thresholds are crossed, like 2021-22 when he set career highs in points (84) and points per game (1.10), that becomes the new expectation. The sports world is unforgiving in that regard.

Guentzel, who has one year remaining on his…