Coyotes player development coach Alex Henry got a close-up look at top prospect Dylan Guenther when the Edmonton Oil Kings met the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference semifinals earlier this month.
Guenther scored in both of the games that Henry attended, just as he has in every Edmonton playoff game this postseason.
“It’s impressive,” Henry said, “but Dylan wants to score every game. He wants to score on every shot.’
When told that Guenther confirmed that desire, Henry laughed and said, “I’ll bet he did.”
So far Guenther has satisfied his cravings. In eight postseason games — Edmonton swept Lethbridge in the first round and Red Deer in the second round — Guenther has nine goals, 12 points and a whopping 49 shots on goal.
“I probably take about 10 shots a game, whether they hit the net or not,” Guenther said. “They’re not all Grade-As, but to score you’ve got to shoot. It’s just about finding those areas and going to the net. There’s a lot of goals to be scored in the paint. They’re not pretty but they’re still important so I think it’s important to keep going there.”
The breakdown of Guenther’s goals, however, reveals more than a collection of goal-mouth greasies. It’s an inspiring mix of power-play goals in the slot, goals off the rush and goals off of the cycle.
“He’s getting them in just about every way,” Oil Kings coach Brad Lauer said. “I think that top-end players can put up some points in this league. They get their chances but he does not cheat the game. He’s getting his offense from playing the right way. He’s got that shooter’s mentality. We don’t call him Gunner for nothing, but his play along the wall has improved, his game away from the puck has improved and he’s making better reads and finding his spots.”
Wall play and shot selection are two of a handful of areas that Henry and the Oil Kings coaching staff have zeroed in on to prepare Guenther for the next level.
“He’s a shooter and he wants to shoot, but in a situation where a goalie can see a puck and there’s no traffic and maybe it’s an entry off the rush, he would just throw one on net,” Henry said. “You know you’re going to turn over that possession so he needs to find a way to extend the possession rather than just get another shot on net.”
As far as his wall play, Henry said Guenther has two strengths that can sometimes become crutches.
“Dylan has a quick stick and he has a high level of compete,” Henry said. “Those are two things that he leans on to have success along the wall, but we’ve been trying to get him to use his body a little more effectively on the wall by positioning himself a little bit better before he gets pucks, or positioning himself a little bit better to be able to battle or get pucks back.
“And then once you are on the wall, trying to get your feet turned. It’s small details that he can start thinking about maybe implementing in practice and then when you’re playing the game, hopefully it takes over naturally.”
Guenther played center for a good chunk of the season, a stint that he said helped expand his game, but once the Oil Kings acquired Florida Panthers prospect Justin Sourdif from the Vancouver Giants in January, Guenther has moved back to the right wing with Sourdif in the middle and Carter Souch on the left side.
“Sourds is just a tremendous player,” Guenther said. “I don’t think his legs ever stop moving, and Carter has great skill, great vision, and he can put the puck in the net, too, so I think we all kind of provide some different to the line and we’ve been really effective together.”
It’s impossible to discuss Guenther without wondering what next season holds for him. He is not AHL eligible and the Coyotes will be in every bit the same rebuilding stage that they were this season, which is perhaps not the best environment for a top prospect to learn the pro game.
The Coyotes are not even close to making that decision. They won’t until training camp when Guenther shows them the state of his game, but Lauer doesn’t think returning for another season of juniors would be a lost season for Guenther.
“I don’t think it can hurt him,” he said. “Usually the guys who it hurts are the guys who think they belong in the NHL and come back and don’t think they have anything to work on so their game sort of levels off.
“I don’t see that attitude with Dylan. He’s always focused on improving his game. I think there are always ways that a player can be better. My message here is always that your game is never good enough and I think he embraces that idea.”
Guenther couldn’t care less about next season. The Oil Kings will open a semifinal series with the Eastern Conference regular-season champion Winnipeg Ice and top prospect Matthew Savoie on Friday. The idea of a WHL title and a Memorial Cup berth is enough of a carrot for now.
“I don’t know how it would feel,” he said. “There’s some guys on my team that have been there — guys who have been to the finals and guys who have won, but it seems so far away for me. The focus right now is on the first game of this series. If we take it one game at a time, that opportunity will come.”
It would help the Oil Kings’ cause if Guenther kept up his torrid goal-scoring pace.
“I expect it,” he said. “Honestly, I should be producing. One thing I’ve done my whole life is just be able to score goals so to bring that right now on the biggest stage of the year, I think it’s important and it’s helping our team.
“It’s obviously not all about that and I think that other things lead into that like just playing an honest game and working hard at both ends of the ice and you’ll get your bounces, but I’m trying to win the game for the team so if I get a chance I look to bury it.”
