2024-25 Season in Review: Michael Bunting

One piece of last season’s Jake Guentzel trade has departed the team.

Vitals

Player: Michael Bunting
Born: Sept. 17, 1995 (29 years old)
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 186 pounds
Hometown: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Shoots: Left
Draft: 4th round (117th overall), Arizona Coyotes, 2014 NHL Draft
2024-25 Statistics: 76 games played; 19 goals, 19 assists; 38 points
—With Pittsburgh: 58 games played; 14 goals; 15 assists; 29 points
Contract Status: Entering final year of three-year, $13,500,000 contract; will be an unrestricted free agent after 2025-26 season
History: 2023-24: 65% A; 33% B

Monthly Splits

Yahoo! Sports

Story of the Season

A slow start to the season with just one assist in the first 11 games, Bunting was able to find his footing by November and into December, registering 20 points over 27 contests in those two months.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins largely floundering in the doldrums of the Metropolitan Division throughout the season, general manager Kyle Dubas opted to ship off Bunting to the Western Conference for a (slightly) younger forward.

Bunting was traded to the Nashville Predators with a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in exchange for forward Tommy Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn.

While finishing the season in the Music City, Bunting played 18 games, recording five goals and four assists for nine points.

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 17 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.

Corsi For%: 52.52 (4th)
Goals For%: 43.33 (10th)
xGF%: 51.54 (6th)
Scoring Chance%: 51.61 (6th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 51.04 (7th)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 8.07 (10th)
On-ice save%: 90.20 (7th)
Goals/60: 0.41
Assists/60: 0.66
Points/60: 1.07

Bunting continues to earn his reputation as an offense-producing top-nine forward, who’s able to bounce around the lineup.

Charts n’at

Via Advanced Hockey Stats and NHL Edge

Bunting’s metrics largely fall in line with the league average. He skated a further distance and generated more shots on goal. Combining his shots on goal and offensive zone time given his deployment and teammates, it’s not at all surprising to see Bunting’s offensive totals tick upward.

Sixteen of his 19 goals this season were scored in the two areas right in front of the goal line (out of 70 shots).

Go to the net and get rewarded.

Highlights

Questions to ponder

Did Kyle Dubas do the right thing by trading away Bunting? The Penguins were never a serious threat to earn a playoff berth this season, and with Bunting under team control through 2025-26, he would have given the Penguins adequate depth during what looks to be another transitional season.

Novak, the main player the Penguins got back in the Nashville trade, is the cheaper player by $1 million, and is under contract through 2026-27, so those details could play into the decision to trade Bunting.

Ideal 2025-26

Perhaps Bunting gives the Predators much of what he offered the Penguins: a competent skater with a bit of burst and snarl capable of consistently recording anywhere from 30-45 points.

Nothing jumps off the page with Bunting’s skill set, but having a top-nine winger who routinely gives you 15 goals is quality depth.

Bottom line