Youngster Guenther Proving to Be Key Cog for Utah Hockey Club

Young NHLer Dylan Guenther began last season in the AHL – but in this excerpt from THN's 2024 Champions Issue, writer Ken Campbell profiled Guenther as he established himself as a bona-fide NHL player and a huge part of the Utah Hockey Club's future.

By Ken Campbell

Earlier this season, not long after he had earned the privilege of permanent housing, Dylan Guenther had his water shut off. It seems that teammate and roommate Jack McBain, who invited Guenther to live with him after Guenther had been told the words every young athlete craves to hear, thought he had paid all of his utilities in one go. And when you’re a dude in your early 20s, you don’t really think about who pays for stuff like that. The vets had a lot of fun ribbing them over that one. They sure did.

Another lesson learned. Another rite of passage overcome. When Guenther moves to Utah this summer, you can bet he’ll be as inclined to keep up with his utility payments as he is to keep his head up while carrying the puck through the neutral zone.

The thing that has to be a kick in the gut for hockey fans in Arizona is knowing that one of the youngest teams in the NHL could go on to accomplish some fantastic things soon after its desert departure. And Guenther, who played all of 78 NHL games over the past two seasons, will almost certainly be leading the way.

Among the ridiculously talented young players who populate the NHL, you could make the case nobody is better positioned for a big breakout season than the 21-year-old Guenther. It has taken a minute, but Guenther has arrived as an impact player. And much of it has to do with the way the organization handled him this season. He didn’t make the team out of camp – which was something of a surprise – but by the time the team called him up from AHL Tucson on Jan. 6, he was ready. Guenther scored 18 goals and 35 points in 45 games for the big club. From the time Guenther was recalled through to the end of the season, only Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz had more points for Arizona.

And of the 11 players taken in the 2021 draft who have played at least 75 games, only Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars has averaged more points per game than Guenther. Of the 34 who have appeared in more than one game, only Johnston and Josh Doan – who exploded for nine points in 11 games at the end of the season in Arizona – have averaged more points per game. When it comes to goals per game, again, only Doan and Johnston were more productive.

A pretty good showing for a player who was only supposed to fill in for three games when Jason Zucker was suspended in January. For the record, Guenther has never heard of Wally Pipp (and you might not have either, but he was the player who Lou Gehrig replaced in the New York Yankees’ lineup before going on to play 2,130 consecutive games), but like Gehrig, Guenther wasn’t about to let an opportunity go to waste. “I was just ready,” he said. “I was hoping I was going to get the call. I knew I was going to have to prove it. I had that little window, and I said to myself, ‘No matter what happens, just go out there and play your best.’ And it worked out well for me.”

Guenther is like countless young players who think they’re going to transition from junior hockey to the NHL with no hiccups. But many veteran hockey professionals believe the biggest transition a player makes is from junior to the AHL. There, young men get a jarring lesson on what it takes to be a pro player against veterans who are playing to feed their families. They quickly find out it’s not quite as easy as they think. And the route isn’t quite as direct as they might expect.

Last season, Guenther started with the Coyotes, then was sent to the World Junior Championship, where he’ll forever be remembered for scoring the overtime goal in the gold-medal game in Canada’s 3-2 win over Czechia. He also finished tied with Utah teammate Logan Cooley for second in goals at the tourney, behind only Connor Bedard. From there, it was a second straight trip to the Memorial Cup, where his Seattle Thunderbirds lost the title game to the Quebec Remparts.

Guenther might not have been overripe to play in the NHL, but his experiences over the past two years, coupled with his success in the AHL, prepared him this time to play in the best league in the world. “I often refer to players as an ‘if player’ or a ‘when player,’” said Utah coach Andre Tourigny. “With an ‘if player,’ it depends on if he gets faster, if he gets stronger…if, if, if. With a ‘when player,’ it’s just a matter of time. Dylan Guenther is a ‘when player.’”

One reason why Guenther and the organization believe he’s poised for a big season in 2024-25 is that, for the first time in three off-seasons, Guenther will be healthy and able to singularly devote himself to getting stronger. Last season, Guenther was injured late in the campaign but played through the Thunderbirds’ Memorial Cup run and didn’t really feel comfortable until November. The year before, playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings, Guenther hurt his knee in the playoffs, which forced him to miss the 2022 Memorial Cup and hindered his summer training.

Much of Guenther’s lethality in the offensive zone comes from his shot, which is dangerous from just about anywhere. As is the case with many players coming up these days, he developed an NHL-caliber shot as a teenager. “I’ve talked to our goalies in practice, and they can’t believe he can shoot the puck that way,” said Utah GM Bill Armstrong. “They don’t even have time to react, and it’s already past them.”

This is an excerpt from Ken Campbell's feature on up-and-coming Utah Hockey Club forward Dylan Guenther, which appeared in The Hockey News' 2024 Champions' Issue. In the story, Campbell profiles Guenther's evolution into a bona fide NHLer.

Adam Proteau talks more about Guenther's progress and his elite pedigree as a flourishing NHL prospect.

To read the entire article and get full access to countless more stories from The Hockey News, subscribe to the magazine by visiting THN.com/Free and signing up. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.