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'When' Is Now - Jul. 1, 2024 – Vol. 77, Issue 14 - 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.

Mammoth Might Be Willing To Deal Top-Six Forward This Season The Utah Mammoth have made some very underrated moves to improve their roster over the early stages of the summer. It started with the acquisition of J.J. Peterka just before the 2025 NHL Draft. On July 1, when free agency opened, they signed Brandon Tanev, Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanacek that will bring in a great amount of depth to their young core. Additionally, they added Kailer Yamamoto and Scott Perunovich as more depth to their lineup.

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.

"I was just ready. I knew I was going to have to prove it. I had that little window." - Dylan Guenther

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.”

Guenther gives a lot of credit for his shot to a man by the name of Ray Podloski, who was his shooting coach growing up. Podloski played eight games for the Boston Bruins in 1988 before embarking on a long and productive career in Germany, Italy, Denmark and Austria. Sadly, Podloski died of a heart attack in May 2018. But Guenther listened well to his teacher and shot more pucks than he’d care to remember. “I have pretty good rotational strength,” Guenther said. “I’m able to kind of put my whole body into it when I’m shooting.”

As much as Tourigny is aware that the young right winger has made his name with his shot, Guenther has earned his coach’s trust with his play away from the puck. That’s always a challenge for young players. Once they prove they can contribute offensively without being a liability defensively, they get more quality ice time, which leads to more offensive opportunities. In fact, by the end of the season, Guenther and McBain were the forwards on the second penalty-killing unit, and Guenther was playing the right point on the top power-play unit. “What I like about Guenther is what people don’t see,” Tourigny said. “He’s a hell of a hockey player when he doesn’t have the puck. He has a great stick, great reads, and he’s really good defensively. And with the puck, everyone sees what he can do. His hockey IQ is really good, and his decision-making is unbelievable.”

It seems Guenther has paid his dues, both in life and in hockey. And now that he has, he’s ready for NHL stardom.

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