Jake Guentzel revealed that he wanted to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes right after the 2024 season ended. The 2024 offseason involved several major moves for Guentzel. On March 7, 2024, Pittsburgh traded him to Carolina.After joining the Hurricanes, which is worth $1.25 billion (according to Forbes), he scored 25 points in 17 regular season games. He also added nine points in 11 playoff matchups. However, he had to wait until free agency despite his willingness to sign an extension.Guentzel described the offseason as “a whirlwind” and said he was excited to join the Canes."Oh yeah, that was just a whirlwind kind of time," Guentzel said on Tuesday, via "The Cam & Strick Podcast." "You know, going first time, going to a different team, we're not sure how it's going to go, but I loved my time there, great team, great group of guys."Guentzel praised teammates Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, describing them as "special players.""And you know, it was a lot of fun to hang by, to be able to play with those guys," Guentzel said. "Aho, I think, is an unbelievable player. Jarvis, a great player, too. So those guys were just special players to play with, for when I played with those guys in the regular season."He admitted he was ready to sign a deal before free agency started. However, with free agency nearing, he decided to explore it, but a day prior, Tampa Bay traded for his rights."There was kind of a lot of back and forth before free agency," Guentzel said. "Was hoping to get a deal done, you know, right after the season, just didn't kind of come to fruition."And as time got closer and it got closer to free agency, I was kind of sitting there just, you know, I'm already four days away from free agency. Let's just wait it out and see what happens. And then Tampa came, traded for my rights, and I think that was a no-brainer for me when that happened."Carolina traded Guentzel’s rights to the Lightning for a third-round pick on June 30, 2024. The next day, he signed a seven-year $63 million contract.Jake Guentzel praised Hurricanes' Rod Brind'AmourJake Guentzel spoke highly of Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour, saying he loves the game and motivates players well."Yeah, I love that. He's, he just loves the game," Guentzel said on Tuesday, via "The Cam & Strick Podcast." "You know, the details of his game and how he coaches was unbelievable."Guentzel added that Brind'Amour's style was different from Mike Sullivan’s in Pittsburgh. He enjoyed playing under a coach who paid attention to details."Definitely a change-up from Sully a little bit, but just the way that he coached game, came about his speeches and stuff like that," Guentzel said. "He was a really good motivator for a lot of players, especially me. And, it was a lot of fun to be able to play for a guy like that."In the 2024-25 season, Guentzel scored 41 goals and had 39 assists for 80 points. His plus-minus was +18, showing solid play at both ends. In five playoff games, he recorded three goals and three assists and was an important part of the Lightning's offense.