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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.

Arizona Coyotes Return Laurent Dauphin To AHL

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After he played fewer than 10 minutes last night, Laurent Dauphin has been returned to the AHL by the Arizona Coyotes. That’s could be a good sign for Liam O’Brien, who was listed as week-to-week or Zack Kassian, who has been held out recently. It drops the Coyotes to 13 forwards on the roster, though Matias Maccelli is unavailable for the next several weeks and has not yet been moved to injured reserve.

The Coyotes went with just 11 forwards in the game yesterday, and Clayton Keller carried the load with nearly 25 minutes of ice time. Nick Schmaltz was back and playing nearly 20, while Dauphin and Michael Carcone both saw under ten. The 27-year-old Dauphin has played in three games this season without scoring, but did record four shots on goal last night. A long-time minor league veteran, he has 27 points in 26 games for the Tucson Roadrunners this year.

Despite staying competitive in most of their games, Arizona is now 13-18-5 on the year. They’re headed to Philadelphia and Chicago for a couple of basement battles over the next few days, before returning home to welcome in the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Nick Schmaltz Returns To Arizona Coyotes Lineup

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After recalling him back on December 28th on an emergency basis, it appears the Anaheim Ducks have sent forward Justin Kirkland back to the AHL, according to CapFriendly. This had been Kirkland’s second emergency recall in as many weeks, however it did afford him the opportunity to make his NHL debut.

Originally a draft pick of the Nashville Predators back in 2014, Kirkland has had a strong AHL career, breaking out with 48 points in 66 games last season with the Stockton Heat, then Calgary’s AHL affiliate. This season, Kirkland is again off to a hot start with 13 points in 19 games in the AHL. Since making his NHL debut, the 26-year-old has skated in five games with Anaheim, but hadn’t yet tallied a point.

  • Injuries have been a challenge for Nick Schmaltz this year, who has missed 16 of his Arizona Coyotes’ 35 games coming into this evening. Fortunately for Schmaltz and the Coyotes, the forward was back in the lineup tonight after missing the team’s New Year’s Eve game in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. The forward has 16 points through those 19 games, continuing on from his breakout performance last season and though his absence isn’t a good thing, keeping it to just one game is surely a positive.
  • Just before puck drop tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that former Lightning forward Tyler Johnson would not skate for them, missing the game with a non-COVID illness. Ultimately, defenseman Caleb Jones played in the game, assuming the role of a forward. Now in his second season with Chicago, Johnson continues to deal with injuries, but has been solid when healthy, recording eight points in 14 games.

Nick Schmaltz Out Day-to-Day

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The Arizona Coyotes announced that forward Nick Schmaltz had suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Per the announcement, Schmaltz is considered day-to-day. The Coyotes recalled forward Laurent Dauphin from the AHL today, so it’s possible his recall was motivated by this injury development.

The injury leaves a hole on the Coyotes’ first line, where Schmaltz had been playing with Clayton Keller and Travis Boyd. The 26-year-old forward has 16 points in 19 games so far this year and scored 59 points in 63 games last year. Injuries have been a consistent nagging issue for Schmaltz so far in his career, and he hasn’t yet had a fully healthy season in his career. He’ll hope to quickly get past this injury and continue what looks like it could be a productive year.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Nashville Predators have announced that forward Cole Smith suffered an upper-body injury, and will be out on a day-to-day basis. Smith, 27, has been a consistent presence in the Predators’ lineup, having played in 34 games so far this year. He has eight assists and 32 penalty minutes in that time frame.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have loaned defenseman Jordan Spence to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Spence, 21, has bounced up and down from the AHL quite a few times this season. He has an impressive 21 points in 22 AHL contests so far this year, and has gotten into three NHL games as well.

Coyotes Recall Laurent Dauphin

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The Coyotes have added some depth up front to their roster as they’ve recalled center Laurent Dauphin from AHL Tucson, per the AHL’s Transactions Log.  They now have 14 forwards on their active roster although one of those, Matias Maccelli, is out for several more weeks and can easily be moved to injured reserve.

It’s the second recall of the season for the 27-year-old as Dauphin was also up with the team on an emergency basis for a week and a half in mid-November.  He saw action in just one game during that stretch, however.  Last season, Dauphin was a regular for Montreal in the second half of the campaign as he got into a career-high 38 games, picking up 12 points.

Dauphin has spent most of the season with the Roadrunners and has been quite productive, collecting 12 goals and 15 assists in 26 games, good for second on the team in scoring.  The only player he’s behind is league leader Michael Carcone who was recalled to Arizona on Tuesday.

Arizona Coyotes Loan Liam Kirk To Finland’s Jukurit

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Earlier this afternoon, the Atlanta Gladiators, the ECHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes and AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, caused a bit of a stir when they announced forward Liam Kirk had been recalled by the Coyotes. Though Kirk had been off to a strong start with the Gladiators, registering 11 points in 15 games thus far, a recall by Arizona appeared surprising, given he’s played just one game at the AHL level this season and just eight a season ago.

PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan clarified that transaction, reporting that Kirk had actually been loaned to Jukurit in the Finnish League, which is coached by former Coyotes forward Olli Jokinen. Morgan adds that with the transaction, Arizona will retain Kirk’s rights and chances are he’ll return to North America next season, most likely as a member of the Roadrunners.

The 22-year-old Kirk is an interesting case as a prospect. Born and raised in England, Kirk played the majority of his youth hockey in Sheffield, turning pro at the age of 16. Kirk’s success as a teenager at England’s highest level of hockey got him noticed and he was ultimately drafted in the seventh-round by the Coyotes in 2018.

After being drafted, Kirk came to North America and spent two strong seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, registering 47 points in 63 games his first season and 50 points in 47 games his second. Following his two-year OHL stint, Kirk returned to England for one season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, playing in just 14 games, but dominating with 20 points. The forward returned to North America last season, but played in just nine AHL contests between last season and this one combined. However, after joining the Gladiators earlier this season, Kirk appeared to find a groove.

The loan to Jukurit isn’t necessarily bad news or a demotion. In fact, this opportunity might be a step forward for Kirk. As talented as the players in the ECHL are, it’s the third league in North America and doesn’t see too many players that are representative of NHL competition. Jukurit, on the other hand, plays in Finland’s top league, where Kirk will face players who fit into one or more categories: stars and veterans of Europe’s top leagues, former NHL and AHLers, and top NHL prospects.

While the European game is different from what he’d see in the NHL, Kirk has had ample exposure to North American hockey in Peterborough and Atlanta, but now he’ll gain more exposure to top competition. Perhaps not as impactful to Arizona’s decision, but helpful to Kirk, the loan will get him closer to home, at least on the same continent.

Prospect Jeremy Langlois Traded In QMJHL

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The Jets have been banged up this season and there isn’t much short-term help on the horizon.  Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays (Twitter link) that center Saku Maenalanen is the closest to returning and is about a week away.  The 28-year-old has been a regular in the bottom six for Winnipeg this season, notching four goals and two assists in 25 games but has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body injury.

Next up on the return list is expected to be Cole Perfetti.  The youngster is expected to miss a week to ten days with an upper-body issue.  Perfetti has been one of Winnipeg’s more productive players this season as he’s tied for sixth in team scoring with 20 points in 33 games.  Unfortunately for them, those are the only players that are somewhat close to returning as their other injuries (a list that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, and Nate Schmidt, among others) are at least multiple weeks away from returning.

More from around the Central Division:

  • Wild defenseman Jacob Middleton did not accompany the team on their trip to Winnipeg due to a non-COVID illness, the team announced (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first full season with Minnesota and has shored up their third pairing nicely.  Middleton has six points, 57 blocks, and 48 hits in 33 games this season.  His absence is why the team recalled Andrej Sustr from AHL Iowa earlier today.
  • Coyotes prospect Jeremy Langlois is on the move in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved the defenseman to Quebec for a pair of draft picks. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick this past summer (94th overall) after an impressive season offensively that saw him collect 47 points in 60 games.  His numbers are down slightly this year although he’s still on pace for 40 points.  Langlois has not yet signed his entry-level contract but is eligible to turn pro next season.

Coyotes Recall Michael Carcone

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Michael Carcone is having quite the season for Arizona’s farm team and he was rewarded for his efforts today as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the winger from Tucson of the AHL.  He takes the place of rookie Matias Maccelli who is expected to miss the next six weeks.

Carcone is in his third season with the Coyotes but has taken his production to another level this year.  He leads the AHL in scoring with 42 points in 27 games so far this season; for context, he had 41 points in 48 contests last season.

The 26-year-old got into 21 games with Arizona in 2021-22, his first taste of NHL action.  He acquitted himself relatively well in that stretch, picking up six points while averaging a little over 12 minutes a night.  With Maccelli out for a while and Dylan Guenther still at the World Juniors for another couple of weeks, there should be an opportunity for Carcone to step into a top-six role to see if he can carry over some of that minor league production to the Coyotes.

Matias Maccelli Expected To Miss Six Weeks

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As everyone was enjoying their holiday weekend, the Arizona Coyotes received a bit of bad news on one of their young forwards. According to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, rookie Matias Maccelli is expected to miss six weeks with a lower-body injury. Maccelli suffered the injury during Friday’s win over the Los Angeles Kings and was forced to leave the game prematurely. At this time, it’s unclear what exactly the nature of the injury is.

Amid another season of uncertainty with an odd arena situation, near the bottom of the league standings, the Coyotes have been able to find a few bright spots and hope for the future. One of those bright spots has been Maccelli, who is currently second in the rookie scoring race with 22 points. An adept playmaker, Maccelli’s 22 points come from just three goals, but 19 assists over 30 games, a large split but not necessarily of concern, given his 13.0% shooting percentage.

A native of Finland, Maccelli was a fourth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2019 and rose relatively quickly to becoming the impact player he is today. After spending two years with Ilves Tampere back home, where he was much of the same player he is today, Maccelli came to North America for 2021-22. The winger dominated the AHL with 57 points in just 47 games and earned himself a March call-up and a long 23-game look in the NHL.

Already 29th in the league in goals-for, losing Maccelli won’t help the cause. There isn’t necessarily a race for the Coyotes to stay in, however the team does have a mix of young players who need to develop and build confidence as well as veteran trade assets whose performance rather directly impacts what they’ll fetch in a trade. Still, a silver lining could be an opportunity for another young player, perhaps their next Maccelli, to get a chance to show he can have a similar impact, which for the team can only help accelerate the rebuild process.

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