Media Day 2025 | Jake Guentzel

as you you kind of look at what the roster we presume will look like opening day. Obviously, a lot can happen between now and then, but there’s only a couple of subtle changes it looks like on the roster. What’s the difference from one season to the next when it’s pretty much the same roster as compared to maybe a few big changes? Yeah, we feel comfortable with each other. We had uh you know, after the trade down last year, we didn’t have many full games as a full lineup when um the new guys came in. So this year we’re looking forward to a fresh start with these guys and you know these guys bring a ton to our team and you know we kept a lot of the core here. So it’s been fun to to to gel together this summer, hang out with the guys and um for myself just feeling a lot more comfortable coming in here. So we’re looking forward to this year and can’t wait to get going. And and how much will that familiarity with each other help once the games start? Because there’s always there’s already some chemistry, right? Because you guys have played together. You mentioned you and hung out over the summer. So, how does that kind of translate once you get on the ice? Yeah, it’s just the communication, the the chemistry that comes with the the training camp. So, that’s the best thing about training camp is playing with guys, to playing with different guys and and just trying to gel together as much as you can. So, uh it’s going to be a fun journey ahead and we can’t wait to kind of go through uh the long stretch of the season and see where we come out of it. Jake, it’s it’s an Olympic year. So, when you were riding the bike or running or whatever and prepping, how much does that in in the back of your mind when it comes to getting ready for the season on top of a long season where you want to win the cup, but it’s an Olympic year, too? The motivational side of it. Well, that’s for me, it’s it’s everything you think about. It’s obviously the Tampa Bay Lightning first and foremost, but the back of your head, it’s it’s USA hockey and the Olympics, and what a dream come true it would be to make that team. So, uh, yeah, just it’s, uh, something you think about day in and day out in training and on the ice, and you’re just trying to do whatever it takes to make that team and and hopefully bring a gold medal back. How much does it help having Go ahead. How much does it help having a year where, you know, you are coming in here familiar, things aren’t new anymore, and I mean, you had had such a great season last year in a first year with this team. Just what is it like having year two where you know where to be, know where to go, your family’s all settled, all that stuff. Yeah, it’s a lot easier for sure. Uh you feel a lot more comfortable here. And uh just the friendships you’ve made. So you come into a new team, you never know what it’s going to be like, how you’re going to fit in, how you’re going to gel with the guys, but uh the guys here made it uh pretty easy for me, seamless for my family and myself. So uh family loves it here. It’s been a great spot and we uh obviously are excited to to keep this going. Jake, we just had Cooch here and He talked a bit about the specific things that he works on over the summer. He may be in a category by himself, but I mean just for you when you go into an off season, do you kind of say, “I want to work on this,” or do you just kind of handle it the same way each off season in terms of getting ready for the next year? Yeah, I think just my skill work, skill work with the puck, the the play making, the you know, the hands. You watch Cooch and um you know, he’s the top of the league in his hands work and skill work. So you learn from that that you want to that’s part of the game that makes him so successful. So for me it’s is really big on skill work this summer and uh obviously just trying to work on my shot as well trying to get different angles to score on these goalies. So it’s probably biggest thing I worked on was skill work and uh my shooting. Jake, we saw you down the middle taking draws or sometimes filling in there. Is that an emphasis for you maybe going into this year something that you’ve worked on prioritizing as far as whether it’s taking draws or even maybe playing down the middle a bit more like we saw last year? Yeah, I didn’t do it for my first how many years, but I did it in college, so I kind of was familiar with center a little bit, but um yeah, I I’ve I haven’t talked to the coach as much about what what’s going to happen, but we’ll see. I’m always working on draws in the summer just to kind of see if I’m um just in case something happens. But yeah, it was uh it’s fun way different get different way to get into the game and something that you you have fun with. I love taking draws. It was fun. Uh Jake, when you think back to last year and what was happening with that Florida series? Just how close is the line for you guys to get over the hump and and to feel like you are, you know, that team to beat in the Eastern Conference and and where you have to get to to to make those strides? Yeah, obviously they’re the standard. they’ve won two two in a row. So, that’s what we’re trying to get to. We’re trying to be a more consistent team and um obviously when we’re at our best, we’re defending hard and not giving up much and the offense will come after that. So, uh yeah, bounce here and there and it could be a different series, but you know, we’re just uh excited for the new opportunity ahead. You know, you talked about hanging out with some of the guys in the offseason. you know, is there anything you learned about, you know, some of these guys that, you know, maybe you did know over the course of the season in terms of, you know, the culture and the kind of guys that that you’re going to battle with? Yeah, just the bond these guys have off the ice, the, you know, the times they hang out and take trips together. It’s the stuff like that. These guys are so close together and you don’t find that in a lot of spots. So, it’s been fun to to kind of see that side of them and uh to be a part of them has been a good time for me. Did you guys actually pick off some of this? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we did. We love it. We’re big golfers here, so we love it.

Jake Guentzel takes the podium during our 2025 Media Day.

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