According to Rogers Sportsnet on Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes traded Michael Bunting of Scarborough, Ontario to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In addition to Bunting, the Penguins received prospects Ville Koivunen, Cruz Lucius, and Vasily Ponomarev, a conditional first and fifth round pick in 2024, and 25% of Jake Guentzel’s salary. The Hurricanes received Guentzel and defenseman Ty Smith.
Bunting is joining his fourth National Hockey League team. He has previously played two seasons with the Arizona Coyotes (2018-19 and 2020-21), two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs (2021-22 and 2022-23), and one season with the Hurricanes (2023-24).
In 60 games this season, Bunting has 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points. He is a -15 with 55 penalty minutes, 16 power-play points, one game-winning goal, 113 shots on goal, six faceoff wins, 15 blocked shots, 25 hits, 22 takeaways and 41 giveaways. Bunting’s game-winning goal came on December 19 in a 6-3 Hurricanes win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Bunting scored from Brent Burns of Barrie, Ontario and Sebastian Aho at 12:39 of the second period which game the Hurricanes a 4-1 lead at the time.
A major reason why Bunting was traded by the Hurricanes was because of his struggles this season in his own end. A -15, Bunting was one a team that is a +32 on the season and is in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 80 points.
