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.