Jim Rutherford is grateful all-star forward Jake Guentzel likely will be out for the rest of the season.

Really.

After all, things could have been far more serious.

“As bad as it is and unfortunate, in some ways, I feel better about it now because when he went down at that speed, it could have been worse than what happened,” the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager said by phone Monday morning. “He could have broken his neck. That was my initial thought.”

In the late stages of a 5-2 home win against the Ottawa Senators, Guentzel scored a goal and was tripped by Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot, crashing violently into the end boards.

While Guentzel’s neck and spine arched backward in gruesome fashion, his right shoulder absorbed the brunt of the collision. A few hours later, Guentzel underwent surgery on that shoulder, which will keep him sidelined four to six months.

“He’s as tough as they come and determined as they come,” Rutherford said. “He got up off of that ice and skated off with a very painful shoulder. It’s unfortunate he’s had surgery, and he’s out for as long as he is. But in some ways, it’s a blessing. It could have been worse.”

Despite having missed the past three games, Guentzel remains the team’s leading scorer with 20 goals and 43 points.

“He’s one of the most underappreciated star players in the league,” Rutherford said. “He started last year coming into his prime. Had a great year last year. Was on his way again to another great year. The thing about him is he’s a hockey guy. Grew up in a hockey household. He’s so determined.

“When the game is on the line, there’s not a lot of guys in our league you wouldn’t rather have on the ice than him. He scores such big goals and almost looks forward to it. He thrives on it. You just don’t replace him for the second half of the season.”

Regardless, the Penguins are going to try to find a way to fill that void, especially because the lone benefit to Guentzel’s ailment is the opportunity to clear his $6 million salary cap hit by potentially placing him on long-term injured reserve.

Barely a week removed from Guentzel’s injury, Rutherford hasn’t been overly impressed with any of the offerings from his fellow general managers.

“I get the standard calls,” Rutherford said. “But some of the calls I’ve gotten the last week are just to give us depth forwards. It’s not to give us a top-six forward. That comes with time.”

With the NHL’s trade deadline approaching in seven weeks on Feb. 24, Rutherford doesn’t see a need to address his depth at left wing specifically in the wake of Guentzel, his top player at that position, being injured. The diversity of his incumbent wingers allows him to cast a wider net on the trade market.

“It’s more about getting a winger because we have the good fortune (that) our wingers can play both sides,” Rutherford said. “If a better right winger comes along than a left winger that makes sense in a deal, I don’t feel the pressure that we have to have a left-hand shot.”

Notes:

• Rutherford declined to say if forwards Sidney Crosby and Nick Bjugstad or any other injured players would accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road trip. Crosby and Bjugstad have been working their way back from core muscle injuries.

Monday afternoon, the Penguins posted a photo on Twitter of Crosby boarding a plane but did not offer any specifics.

• The play of goaltender Tristan Jarry, who was named the NHL’s second star of December has surprised Rutherford, but to a degree.

As incumbent starter Matt Murray has largely served as the backup over the past month-plus, Jarry has appeared in 20 games season and has a 13-6-1 record along with a 1.99 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and three shutouts.

“We had a good sense with his development, where he was, what he was capable of doing,” Rutherford said. “I don’t think anybody had projected the first half that he’s had. Certainly, playing a number of games and playing well is what we expected. And over the last year or so, Matt’s first half hasn’t been as good as his second half. Really, what’s played out here is a little bit of a surprise but not totally surprising. We’re fortunate to have two good young goalies with a good one in the minors (with Casey DeSmith).”

• Murray’s play in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime road win against the Montreal Canadiens was particularly satisfying for Rutherford. Murray made 26 saves in that contest, including on a handful challenging odd-man rushes.

Prior to Saturday, Murray had won only two of his nine previous starts and had a save percentage of only .861 during that span.

“I was really pleased,” Rutherford said. “I was pleased for him because the couple of games prior to that, he was playing OK, but he wasn’t getting any bounces. He wasn’t getting any good breaks. But in Montreal, he played a real solid game. He got the one break where he hit the post. It was a shot from the point that was screened, he couldn’t see it. But that was a good effort and an important one for the Penguins.”

• Defenseman Kris Letang admitted he made errors in Sunday’s 4-1 home loss to the Florida Panthers, including on the Panthers’ first two goals. Furthermore, Letang had an ugly turnover in Montreal which was converted to a goal against, as well as a penalty which led to the game-winning power-play goal in a 3-2 overtime loss at home to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

While acknowledging Letang’s ice time has been inflated due in part to injuries to defenseman Brian Dumoulin (left ankle) and Justin Schultz (undisclosed), Rutherford, as one might expect, would prefer to see a smoother performance from his all-star defenseman.

“Right now, we’re sitting here with six NHL defensemen and he’s our No. 1 guy, the go-to guy that plays a lot of minutes,” Rutherford said. “When you play that many minutes, you’re going to make some mistakes. Right now, the level of his mistakes is more than it should be. … But I’m not concerned about it.”

• The Penguins lost reserve forward Stefan Noesen to the Sharks through waivers Dec. 19, only 17 days after they signed him to a one-year, two-way contract.

Rutherford explained why the team opted to expose Noesen, who had 22 points in 22 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, to waivers so soon after signing him.

“We thought there was a chance that he would go on waivers,” Rutherford said. “But he’s not an impact guy. He’s a fourth-line player. We had other guys that we felt could do the same job that he was doing. Then of course we’ve got guys coming back here (from injuries) at some point this month. We would have preferred to keep him. We weren’t hoping to lose him. We wanted to keep him as a depth guy. But it doesn’t really change a whole lot in our organization.”

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