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Dylan Guenther

Arizona Coyotes Send Dylan Guenther To WHL

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The Arizona Coyotes have assigned forward Dylan Guenther to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, per a team announcement. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong issued the following statement regarding this transaction:

Just like the World Junior Championships where Dylan helped lead Canada to a gold medal, this is a tremendous opportunity for him to join a very good Seattle club, play top line minutes, and hopefully lead his team to a Memorial Cup. Dylan has played well for us this season and he has a very bright future with the Coyotes. We look forward to watching his development the rest of the season.

In a corresponding move, the Coyotes have recalled forward Jean-Sebastien Dea from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.

As PHNX’s Craig Morgan notes, Guenther was one game away from reaching enough games to accrue a year toward unrestricted free agent status, something that likely played a role in this decision. The Coyotes have already shaved a year off of his entry-level deal by playing him in more than nine games, but since they are now sending him to the WHL Guenther will need to wait a little longer to hit the open market, should that be a route he wishes to take.

The 19-year-old forward was drafted ninth overall by the Coyotes at the 2021 draft, with the pick the team got from the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Conor Garland trade. He starred for the Oil Kings the following season, scoring 91 points in 59 games en route a WHL championship.

Guenther made the Coyotes this season and finishes his season with them having played in a total of 33 games. He’s registered a healthy 15 points in that span, and now gets to return to the WHL with added confidence, having tested his mettle against the game’s best players.

Guenther joins the Seattle Thunderbirds, a team that surrendered a significant haul of draft picks to acquire him at the WHL’s trade deadline. The Thunderbirds are a Memorial Cup contender this season and one of the best teams in the WHL, boasting other top prospects such as Brad Lambert (WPG), Kevin Korchinski (CHI), Nolan Allan (CHI), Colton Dach (CHI), Reid Schaefer (EDM), Jordan Gustafson (VGK), Lucas Ciona (CGY), and Jared Davidson (MTL).

He has all the talent within himself and surrounding him to go on an extremely productive run to cap off what has been an encouraging season. He could even add some more silverware in the form of a Memorial Cup and/or WHL Championship after he already captured the World Junior Championships gold medal with Team Canada.

To fill Guenther’s spot on the roster, the Coyotes have recalled an AHL scorer, Dea. The 28-year-old has scored 19 goals and 37 points in 46 AHL games this season and was a top scorer for a Laval Rocket team last season that made it to the Calder Cup Semifinals. The AHL veteran has 33 NHL games on his resume and will now have the chance to skate in his first game in the world’s top league since 2020-21 when he played in one game for the Buffalo Sabres.

January Calder Trophy Watch: Forwards

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The middle of the season is a common time for awards check-ins in the NHL, and for good reason. Enough sample size is under our belts to cross off some early-season hot and cold streaks, and it’s given some time for players to grow into impact roles for new teams.

That’s especially true with the Calder Trophy, tracking the best rookie in the league. Young players are especially susceptible to streakiness, for better or for worse. Many players’ seasons have evened out somewhat, and it’s as good a time as any to take a look at where things stand for a handful of top Calder Trophy candidates, this time at the forward position.

Forwards

Matthew Beniers, Seattle Kraken

Beniers stands as the clear front-runner for the Calder in most circles, and for good reason. He leads all rookies in goals (17) and points (36), and is playing serious minutes at 17:05 per game. He’s one point behind Andre Burakovsky for the Kraken lead in scoring, and he’s been a crucial part of Seattle’s improvement from basement dweller to playoff contender in 2022-23.

The 2021 second-overall pick was a “safe floor, unsure ceiling” type of player when he was drafted. With this kind of production so early in his career, Seattle can be optimistic that Beniers will hit his first-line center ceiling as his defense improves. He’s a poor 43.7% in the faceoff dot, but that’s been a problem for the entire Kraken squad, as they don’t have a single player over 50%.

Cole Perfetti, Winnipeg Jets

Along with the rest of the Jets, Perfetti is thriving offensively under head coach Rick Bowness. He had a solid seven points in 18 NHL games last season, maintaining his rookie status, but this season leads rookies with 20 assists.

While he has thrived playing with some of Winnipeg’s top talent, Perfetti’s point production is impressive in its own right. Very little of his scoring has come on the power play, he has just four points there. He’s sixth on the Jets in scoring, and while he isn’t receiving top minutes quite yet, nearly 15 minutes a night is still fine for a player his age. Look for his goal-scoring to improve throughout the season, too; he’s shooting at just 8.2%.

Mason McTavish, Anaheim Ducks

After a 2022 World Juniors for the ages, McTavish has transitioned well to the NHL on a struggling team. Anaheim’s systems have been a mess all season, but McTavish has still managed 27 points in 45 games and is drawing some tough matchups in the top six.

Used on and off at the center position, McTavish is scoring without much support. He’s third on the team in points and his -14 rating is actually one of the better ones on the team. Selected immediately after Beniers in 2021, it’s looking like an incredibly strong top-five from that class.

On the cusp: Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther (ARI), Kent Johnson (CBJ), Jack Quinn and John-Jason Peterka (BUF), Wyatt Johnston (DAL), Juuso Parssinen (NSH), Noah Cates (PHI)

Seattle Thunderbirds To Acquire Dylan Guenther’s WHL Rights

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A second major Canadian Hockey League trade involving a top-flight prospect with NHL experience is coming this week. Per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds have a deal to acquire the rights to Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther from the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Seattle will send a draft pick plus a prospect for Guenther’s rights, which will shift to a first-round selection and other draft picks if Arizona returns Guenther to the WHL.

Most recently, Guenther stood out on Canada’s top junior team, scoring the golden goal in overtime to defeat Czechia in the 2023 World Junior Championships gold medal game. He finished the tournament with seven goals and three assists in 10 games.

Drafted ninth overall in 2021, Guenther has stuck in the NHL full-time this season, at least before the World Juniors started. He’s amassed a respectable 11 points in 22 games, and while he may not be in Calder consideration, it’s a strong showing for a 19-year-old without much support around him.

He’s returned to the Coyotes roster for now, but if he shows signs of faltering as the season goes on, the Coyotes can opt to return him to junior hockey if they feel continued NHL play is stunting his development. In that case, the Thunderbirds, already one of the best teams in the WHL, would receive one of the absolute best scorers in junior hockey.

Guenther was on pace for a 100-point campaign in the WHL last season, amassing 91 points in 56 games with the Oil Kings. In his draft year, he managed 24 points in just 12 games during a COVID-shortened stint.

Seattle already boasts a trio of top-end NHL-affiliated blueliners with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allen, in addition to Nashville’s Luke Prokop, in the fold. They’re led in scoring by a pair of 20-year-olds in Montreal’s Jared Davidson and Calgary’s Lucas Ciona, who both have 50 points in less than 35 games.

West Notes: McDonagh, Guenther, Gustavsson

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Amid their up-and-down season on and off the ice thus far, eight points out of a playoff spot coming into today, unable to extend Bo Horvat, and listing only Elias Pettersson as “untouchable,” it appears the Vancouver Canucks need to start setting their eyes on the future. Part of that future is likely with Pettersson, as well as Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and the recently-extended J.T. Miller, but will also come with their young prospects. One of those prospects, who has yet to sign with the team, is Northeastern University forward Aidan McDonagh.

The 23-year-old is finishing up his fourth season in the NCAA where he has 13 goals and 14 assists in just 20 games and is over a point-per-game during his four years. A 2019 seventh-round pick of the Canucks, Vancouver’s rights with McDonagh expire on August 15th. According to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin was in Boston this weekend to meet with McDonagh. Per Dhaliwal, that meeting went very well, with Allvin laying out his plan for the player should he choose to sign. Despite the positive meeting, there is still no indication of how likely McDonagh is to sign with the team that drafted him.

  • After scoring the golden-goal for Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther immediately rejoined his team, flying back to Arizona on Friday, less than 24 hours after the biggest goal of his life to-date. Given the whirlwind few days for Guenther and having been away form his NHL team for a few weeks, many would understand if the winger didn’t play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, that won’t be the case says PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, who reports that Guenther will play at home Sunday. Guenther, 19, had been one of a few key difference-makers for Canada at this year’s tournament, and has been off to a nice start to his NHL career too, recording 11 points in 21 games prior to joining Team Canada.
  • Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who last played Wednesday and has been out with a non-COVID illness since, is expected to start this evening’s game at home against the St. Louis Blues, says The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Gustavsson’s illness had apparently been enough that he couldn’t simply back-up for Marc-Andre Fleury, but the team had to instead recall netminder Zane McIntyre on an emergency basis Friday morning. The Wild play at home this evening before a two game midweek road trip to New York City and Long Island.

Arizona Coyotes Recall Dylan Guenther

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1/6/23: After an extremely successful World Juniors tournament that saw Guenther score the “golden goal” for Team Canada, Guenther has been recalled back to his NHL team, the Arizona Coyotes.

12/8/22: The Canadian World Junior squad continues to get more and more impressive. After already getting Brandt Clarke and Shane Wright, the group will now be joined by Dylan Guenther, loaned from the Arizona Coyotes today.

Guenther, 19, is a rather unexpected addition to the Canadian squad, given how his season has gone so far. The ninth overall pick from 2021 has been a regular in Arizona’s lineup this season, recording 11 points in 21 games. He played more than 15 minutes for the team just last night, and is already long past the threshold to burn the first year of his entry-level deal.

It’s rare for an NHL regular to be loaned, though the Coyotes will be focused much more on Guenther’s long-term development than the standings for this season. The team is still early in their rebuild and is trying to land a top draft position, meaning losses are potentially more valuable than wins.

The most interesting part is that despite being named to the original team (and registering two points in the now-mythical first game), Guenther did not attend the rescheduled 2022 tournament in the summer as he focused on the season ahead. After suffering a knee injury in the WHL finals, it would have been a stretch for him to participate, especially with NHL camp right around the corner.

Now, after two months of experience at the highest level, he’ll get the chance to represent his country on the world stage.

Canada Wins 2023 World Junior Championship

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Team Canada has won the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, defeating Czechia to win the gold medal. The game-winning goal came off the stick of Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther in overtime, ending Czechia’s bid for their first gold since 2001.

It’s Canada’s second consecutive gold medal and their second gold medal in just five months after the delayed 2022 tournament occurred in August. It’s also the second straight tournament in which Canada won in 3-on-3 overtime, with Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish scoring the winner last year.

The 2023 presumptive first-overall pick and tournament MVP, Connor Bedard, finished the tournament with an astonishing 23 points in seven games, leading all other players in the tournament by nine points. He’s now the all-time leader for Canada at the World Juniors and set a single-tournament point record for Canadian players.

It’s a tough loss to swallow for Czechia, who played their hearts out and deserved to get this far in the tournament. Getting their first medal since 2005 is still a great success, and they’ll take home the silver. Goaltender Tomas Suchanek was named to the media All-Star team after posting a .934 save percentage and playing every minute of the tournament for Czechia.

Buffalo Sabres 2022 first-round pick Jiri Kulich led the Czechs in scoring, potting seven goals in seven games and adding two assists.

Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears

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More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.

In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.

  • Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
  • Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
  • With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
  • Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.

Hockey Canada Announces Final 2023 WJC Roster

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The selection camp is over and Hockey Canada has chosen the 22 players that will represent their country later this month at the IIHF World Junior Championship. There were 29 players originally named to the camp but after several others were loaned from NHL teams, ten players ended up cut today.

Carson Lambos, Evan Nause, Ethan Samson. Owen Beck, Zachary Bolduc, Jordan Dumais, Ryan Greene, Riley Kidney, Tyler Brennan, and William Rousseau were all sent back to their respective teams.

The roster that will compete:

F Caedan Bankier – Kamloops, WHL (MIN 86th overall, 2021)
F Connor Bedard – Regina, WHL (2023 draft-eligible)
F Colton Dach – Kelowna, WHL (CHI 62nd overall, 2021)
F Zach Dean – Gatineau, QMJHL (VGK 30th overall, 2021)
F Adam Fantilli – Michigan, NCAA (2023 draft-eligible)
F Nathan Gaucher – Québec, QMJHL (ANA 22nd overall, 2022)
F Zack Ostapchuk – Vancouver, WHL (OTT 39th overall, 2021)
F Brennan Othmann – Peterborough, OHL (NYR 16th overall, 2021)
F Joshua Roy – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (MTL 150th overall, 2021)
F Reid Schaefer – Seattle, WHL (EDM 32nd overall, 2022)
F Logan Stankoven – Kamloops, WHL (DAL 47th overall, 2021)
F Shane Wright – Seattle, NHL (SEA 4th overall, 2022)
F Dylan Guenther – Arizona, NHL (ARI 9th overall, 2021)

D Nolan Allan – Seattle, WHL (CHI 32nd overall, 2021)
D Ethan Del Mastro – Mississauga, OHL (CHI 105th overall, 2021)
D Tyson Hinds – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (ANA 76th overall, 2021)
D Kevin Korchinski – Seattle, WHL (CHI 7th overall, 2022)
D Jack Matier – Ottawa, OHL (NSH 124th overall, 2021)
D Olen Zellweger – Everett, WHL (ANA 34th overall, 2021)
D Brandt Clarke – Los Angeles, NHL (LAK 8th overall, 2021)

G Benjamin Gaudreau – Sarnia, OHL (SJS 81st overall, 2021)
G Thomas Milic – Seattle, WHL (undrafted)

Snapshots: Guenther, Barkov, Toporowski

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With World Junior camps opening, many expected a handful of NHLers such as Shane Wright, Brandt Clarke and Dylan Guenther to leave their NHL teams for a short time to compete for gold. All three of those players will join their native Canada, making an already formidable squad just that much better. Although Wright and Clarke struggled to find consistent playing time and production with their NHL teams, both ultimately sent to the AHL on conditioning loans, the same cannot be said for Guenther. The 19-year-old, who was selected by the Arizona Coyotes ninth-overall in 2021, has 11 points in 21 games already, playing just over 12 minutes per game.

While Guenther’s loan to Team Canada wasn’t exactly shocking news, it also wasn’t the lock that Clarke and Wright’s loans appeared to be. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan had a chance to discuss Guenther with Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong, who said he wanted to see how prospects performed “under fire.” Armstrong continued, “[y]ou like to see them in those pressure situations because you find out a lot about them and they really tend to grow for them.” The GM cited two of his former St. Louis Blues players, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, who were sent to the World Juniors, and the impact the experience had on their development.

  • After it was reported yesterday that Aleksander Barkov was expected to return today from a bout with pneumonia, the Florida Panthers confirmed their captain would play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Adding the superstar back into the lineup will no doubt give Florida, who went 2-3-2 in his absence, a big boost. Still, illness will continue to hold them back. The team announced that goaltender Spencer Knight and forward Anton Lundell are both missing tonight’s game with non-COVID illnesses.
  • NHL.com’s Mark Divver wonders if the Boston Bruins termination of Victor Berglund’s contract could pave the way to an NHL contract for forward Luke Toporowski. As Divver points out, this will leave the Bruins with 47 contracts, perhaps enough flexibility to add one back in that of Toporowski. NHL teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 50 contracts within the organization, but generally prefer to stay away from having 50, or even 49, in order to give them flexibility in certain situations. Divver adds there is interest from other teams in Toporowski, but Boston has exclusive rights with him until January 1st, and even thereafter can match any other offer Toporowski accepts. A product of both the WHL and USHL, Toporowski went undrafted but signed on with the Providence Bruins this offseason after scoring 35 goals in just 49 games between the Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers last season. The 21-year-old has 17 points in 21 AHL games so far this season.

Dylan Guenther To Remain With Coyotes, Will Burn First Season Of Contract

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This is the time of year when some teams will need to make decisions about any junior-aged players they might have.  Once a player plays in ten NHL games, they officially begin (or burn) the first year of their entry-level contract.  One of the players in that situation was Coyotes winger Dylan Guenther.  The decision has been made and the 19-year-old will remain with the big club with the news being broken to him by his family (Twitter link).

Guenther was the ninth overall selection in 2021 with a pick that was acquired from Vancouver as part of the swap that sent defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland to the Canucks.  He lit it up with Edmonton of the WHL last season, scoring 45 goals while adding 46 assists in just 59 games while adding another 21 points (13-8-21) in just 16 playoff contests.  Accordingly, there wasn’t much left for him to do at the major junior level but he’s ineligible to play with AHL Tucson this season (aside from a short-term conditioning stint) which left his options as Arizona or the WHL.

The Coyotes kept Guenther up after a good showing in training camp and he has rewarded them with a strong start to his rookie campaign with two goals and four helpers through his first nine contests.  Perhaps as important as the production is the fact that he’s logging nearly 13 minutes a night which is a decent amount of ice time for a junior-aged player.  That type of playing time should be sustainable throughout the year, especially with Arizona struggling a bit offensively as they sit 30th in the NHL in goals scored heading into today’s action.

With this news, Guenther will become a restricted free agent in the 2025 offseason but there is still one more threshold to watch for which is 40 games on the active roster.  Once he gets to that mark, he then accrues a season of service time toward unrestricted free agency which would allow him to hit the open market at 26 instead of 27.  He won’t get to that mark for a few months so there will be plenty of time for his evaluation to continue.

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