Amateur in March 2015 Guentzel joined the
Sioux City Musketeers of the
United States Hockey League (USHL) for the
2012–13 season, recording 29
goals, 44
assists for 73
points in 60 games. He finished sixth overall in the league in scoring and was voted the USHL Rookie of the Year as well as being named to the USHL All-Rookie Team. He was also named to the league's Second All-Star Team. Guentzel committed to play for the
University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO), a
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Division I college hockey program. He joined them for the
2013–14 season. In his
freshman year with the
Omaha Mavericks, Guentzel was named to the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Academic All-Conference Team, the NCHC All-Conference Rookie Team and was a finalist for
NCHC Rookie of the Year. He recorded seven goals and 34 points in 37 games with the Mavericks that season. He finished the season with 14 goals and 39 points in 36 games as the team's leading scorer. He appeared in 35 games, marking 19 goals and 46 points,
Professional Pittsburgh Penguins (2016–2024) Guentzel was selected by the
Pittsburgh Penguins of the
National Hockey League (NHL) in the third round, 77th overall, of the
2013 NHL entry draft. He first signed an amateur tryout contract with Pittsburgh's
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (WBS Penguins) in March 2016 and helped them qualify for the
2016 Calder Cup playoffs. He finished the regular season making 11 appearances with WBS, scoring two goals and six points. , and
Kris Letang celebrating the Penguins' Stanley Cup win in June 2017 Guentzel began the
2016–17 season in the AHL. He was recalled by Pittsburgh on November 16, 2016, after an injury to
Chris Kunitz. Guentzel made his NHL debut on November 21, against the
New York Rangers; he scored two goals on his first two shots. Despite this, the Penguins lost the game 5–2. He appeared in five games for Pittsburgh, recording three goals and four points before being returned to WBS on December 16. Guentzel was selected for the
2017 AHL All-Star Classic alongside teammate
Tristan Jarry. Pittsburgh recalled him again on January 17, 2017, after he recorded 21 goals and 42 points in 33 games in the AHL. On March 21, Guentzel suffered a
concussion on a
check from
Buffalo Sabres defenseman
Rasmus Ristolainen. He missed the next four games, while Ristolainen was suspended by the league for three games. He finished the season with Pittsburgh, scoring 16 goals and 33 points in 40 games total. On June 11, 2017, the Penguins won the
Stanley Cup after defeating the
Nashville Predators in six games. During the run, Guentzel recorded 21 points, tying
Dino Ciccarelli and
Ville Leino for points by a rookie in a single postseason. His total of 13 goals was one shy of Ciccarelli's record. He was also named to the AHL's 2017 All-Rookie Team alongside teammate
Casey DeSmith. Guentzel began the
2017–18 season in the NHL, putting up a career high 48 points in 82 games to help the Penguins qualify for the
2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. During the first round of the playoffs, Guentzel recorded four goals in an 8–5 Game 6 win over the
Philadelphia Flyers. He became the third Penguins player to record four goals in a playoff game, behind
Mario Lemieux and
Kevin Stevens. Advancing past the Flyers, they were eliminated by the
Washington Capitals in six games in their best-of-seven series. In all 12 playoff games, Guentzel scored 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. On November 24, 2018, Guentzel recorded his first regular season hat trick in a 4–2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The following month, on December 27, the Penguins re-signed Guentzel to a five-year, $30 million contract. Guentzel recorded his second regular season hat trick in a 7–4 win over the
Anaheim Ducks on January 11, 2019. His hat trick was the first by a Penguins player ever against the Anaheim Ducks. After a two-goal game the following night against the
Los Angeles Kings, Guentzel was named the
NHL's Third Star of the Week. He recorded a four-point game on March 2, scoring two goals and adding two assists in a 5–1 victory over the
Montreal Canadiens. He finished the regular season with 40 goals and 76 points in 82 games. However, the first line, of which Guentzel and linemate
Sidney Crosby were the key components, failed to score, and the Penguins were eliminated in a four-game sweep. Guentzel scored just once in the series. On December 30, 2019, Guentzel recorded his 200th career point as he scored a goal against the
Ottawa Senators. However, immediately after scoring the goal, Guentzel tripped over the stick of Senators defenseman
Thomas Chabot, and crashed shoulder first into the boards behind the net. The next day, Guentzel underwent successful shoulder surgery that sidelined him for six months. Guentzel was expected to miss the remainder of the season, but with the NHL pushing the start of the
playoffs into early August due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to recover and join his teammates for the postseason. Despite a healthy Guentzel available to the team, the heavily favored Penguins were upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the Qualifying Round of the tournament in four games. Guentzel recorded a goal and three points in the series. Pittsburgh once again fell to the New York Islanders in the first round of the
following postseason, where he and his linemates struggled to produce. He scored only one goal and two points as the Penguins were eliminated in six games. In the
2021–22 season, the league returned to its usual 82-game format. Although he missed the season opener against the
Tampa Bay Lightning due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol, he made his season debut against the
Florida Panthers on October 14 in a 5–4 overtime loss. In the twelfth game, he scored a hat trick and an assist against the
Vancouver Canucks in a 4–1 victory. In the thirteenth game, Guentzel left the game against Seattle after blocking a shot with his right hand in the first period. Although he returned to the game and scored two goals and an assist in the 6–1 victory, the streak ended as head coach
Mike Sullivan ruled him out for a few weeks on December 8. at PPG Paints Arena in April 2022 Guentzel's finish to the season was another 40-goal campaign, capped off by another hat trick against the
Boston Bruins. However, despite holding a 3-1 series lead over the New York Rangers in the first round of the postseason and Guentzel's eight goals through the series, the Rangers rallied to eliminate the Penguins in seven games. In the
2022–23 season, Guentzel remained on the Penguins first line for 78 games of the season. Guentzel fell just short of his previous season's 40-goal mark, finishing with 36 goals and 37 assists for 73 points. This season was also the first time in his career with the Penguins that he did not make a postseason appearance, as the Penguins failed to make the
Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2006, missing by one point.
Carolina Hurricanes (2024) On March 7, 2024, with Guentzel injured and the Penguins struggling to win games late in the season, the team traded him to the
Carolina Hurricanes, along with
Ty Smith, in exchange for
Michael Bunting,
Ville Koivunen, prospect
Cruz Lucius,
Vasili Ponomaryov, and two conditional
2024 draft picks. He was activated on March 12 making his Carolina debut against the New York Rangers, and scored his first goal with the Hurricanes on March 17 against the Ottawa Senators. He finished the season with eight goals and 17 points in 25 games with the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes eliminated the Islanders to move on to the next round, to face the other team from New York, the Rangers. In Game 2 of the series against the Rangers, Guentzel scored twice, but it was not enough as the Hurricanes lost 4–3 in double overtime. Ultimately, the Rangers eliminated the Hurricanes in six games. In all 11 playoff games, he scored four goals and nine points. That same day, it was announced that he signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with Tampa Bay. ==International play==