Prospect Info: 2021 Draft #9 - Dylan Guenther (RW)

[Bonsai Tree]

One can only hope. We desperately need to get our act together when it comes to grooming young talent.

And I can't think of a better way to ruin a natural right wing than to force him to play center.

 

[XX]

Gunner: Among Dylan Guenther's many skills, his shooting draws the most attention

Marner did the same thing in London. Doesn't mean much.

 

[rt]

Marner did the same thing in London. Doesn't mean much.

It seems pretty rare that a kid is drafted in the 1st round as a winger, and then developed into a center:

Wingers Drafted in the 1st Becoming NHL Centers?

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Coyotes Sign Dylan Guenther to Entry-Level Contract

 

[newmanager]

Watched the Oil Kings play the Winnipeg Ice Friday night. Guenther played center. His line with Carson Latimer on his right side looked good. Guenther looked big and fast with good hands and hard shot. Played fairly physical too. On one play he crashed into the net and the Ice goalie ended up kneeling on his neck and looked like he was trying to put his weight on him. Real solid team that has a good chance of winning WHL and going to the Memorial Cup and Guenther is a key contributor. Oil Kings ended up winning 3-1 on an empty netter. Was a pretty tight checking affair with not a lot of offensive opportunities for either team. They kept Savoie and Geekie off the scoreboard but they ( Savoie and Geekie ) looked pretty darn good.

 

[Grimes]

Watched the Oil Kings play the Winnipeg Ice Friday night. Guenther played center. His line with Carson Latimer on his right side looked good. Guenther looked big and fast with good hands and hard shot. Played fairly physical too. On one play he crashed into the net and the Ice goalie ended up kneeling on his neck and looked like he was trying to put his weight on him. Real solid team that has a good chance of winning WHL and going to the Memorial Cup and Guenther is a key contributor. Oil Kings ended up winning 3-1 on an empty netter. Was a pretty tight checking affair with not a lot of offensive opportunities for either team. They kept Savoie and Geekie off the scoreboard but they ( Savoie and Geekie ) looked pretty darn good.

Thanks for the report!

If Guenther successfully converts to a center is he a top 2 pick in the 2021 draft? Him doing so would really give us flexibility with our first pick this year too, where we could grab Kemmel or Miro instead of a center if they are clearly BPA.

 

[rt]

Thanks for the report!

If Guenther successfully converts to a center is he a top 2 pick in the 2021 draft? Him doing so would really give us flexibility with our first pick this year too, where we could grab Kemmel or Miro instead of a center if they are clearly BPA.

Bedard is a center. Musty has moved to center for Sudbury. Dvorsky is a center. Fantilli is a center. Benson may be a winter only because of Geekie and Savoie. My personal sentimental favorite Brayden Yager is a C. These are all consensus top 10 guys for next year at this point.

Im cool taking a BPA winger with our pick. Especially if we at least try to trade up from the MTL/CAR pick for Gaucher.

Imagine having Kemmel, Guenther, Gaucher, and Yager. Pretty awesome.

 

[newmanager]

Thanks for the report!

If Guenther successfully converts to a center is he a top 2 pick in the 2021 draft? Him doing so would really give us flexibility with our first pick this year too, where we could grab Kemmel or Miro instead of a center if they are clearly BPA.

It's not really much of a conversion as he has played center quite a bit in the past. He's a good center cause of his skating, hands and creativity but I like him as a left winger as he's got a rocket of a shot coming in on his off wing. He plays the left side on the power play as they use Luypen at center during the man advantage most of the time.
I might have some favoritism to WHL players cause I only go to WHL games but I thought before the draft that he was #2 behind only Owen Power.

 

[Heldig]

Bedard is a center. Musty has moved to center for Sudbury. Dvorsky is a center. Fantilli is a center. Benson may be a winter only because of Geekie and Savoie. My personal sentimental favorite Brayden Yager is a C. These are all consensus top 10 guys for next year at this point.

Im cool taking a BPA winger with our pick. Especially if we at least try to trade up from the MTL/CAR pick for Gaucher.

Imagine having Kemmel, Guenther, Gaucher, and Yager. Pretty awesome.

Need moooore picks in the 1st round in 2022.

 

[rt]

Need moooore picks in the 1st round in 2022.

*2023*

I don’t think we’ve got the assets. Haha.

 

[Heldig]

*2023*

I don’t think we’ve got the assets. Haha.

Yes, for the 2023 draft. And 1st round picks do get traded at the deadline for less than we would think (see Hartman in 2018, Brady Skje in 2020)

 

[Jakey53]

It's not really much of a conversion as he has played center quite a bit in the past. He's a good center cause of his skating, hands and creativity but I like him as a left winger as he's got a rocket of a shot coming in on his off wing. He plays the left side on the power play as they use Luypen at center during the man advantage most of the time.
I might have some favoritism to WHL players cause I only go to WHL games but I thought before the draft that he was #2 behind only Owen Power.

If he can play like a 2OA I will do somersaults with BA.

 

[rt]

If he can play like a 2OA I will do somersaults with BA.

Pronman had him 2nd.

 

[hbk]

Pronman had him 2nd.

Redline had him 1st

 

[Grimes]

It seems pretty rare that a kid is drafted in the 1st round as a winger, and then developed into a center:

Wingers Drafted in the 1st Becoming NHL Centers?

Bumping this because it's important to note that this is a rare feat. However, I don't feel as many wingers with natural size and hands like Guenther get tested at center. Those players are often already centers due to their size and skill. Hopefully this experiment works and doesn't impede on his development as a winger.

So many aspects of his game and build are like Strome. Same first name, they look similar, similar size, similar obsessiveness with the game of hockey, similar reach, even their wristers have a similar wind up.

But the execution of the similar tools is completely different. His release is light-years ahead of Strome's, better stride and first steps, better motor, more assertive.

Strome was supposed to be a Thorton clone. Someone who can slow the game down and then take over. I'm just not sure those players can be as successful as they used to since the overall speed has increased so much. I still wonder how Strome would have faired if a different team drafted him. Or if his skillset is just not made for the modern game.

 

[RemoAZ]

Redline had him 1st

So we have a chance to get the best player in the draft two years in a row? Maybe 3? If that happens they will definitely relocate. We get to wear shorts in the winter. That's all the good stuff we are allowed to have..

 

[hbk]

So we have a chance to get the best player in the draft two years in a row? Maybe 3? If that happens they will definitely relocate. We get to wear shorts in the winter. That's all the good stuff we are allowed to have..

I was absolutely shocked he was there at 9. My brother is a Buffalo fan and i kept sending him clips because i thought he might he their guy.

 

[Jakey53]

I was absolutely shocked he was there at 9. My brother is a Buffalo fan and i kept sending him clips because i thought he might he their guy.

Everyone was shocked that Gormley fell as well. We thought we had the steal of the draft. Why did Guenther drop?

 

[rt]

Everyone was shocked that Gormley fell as well. We thought we had the steal of the draft. Why did Guenther drop?

Position. Centers and defensemen went higher. Depending on how you saw Eklund at the time, Guenther was the first W off the board.

Gormley had skating issues and then AFTER he was drafted had injury issues that hampered his skating even more.

 

[Jakey53]

Position. Centers and defensemen went higher. Depending on how you saw Eklund at the time, Guenther was the first W off the board.

Gormley had skating issues and then AFTER he was drafted had injury issues that hampered his skating even more.

That's a poor argument. I have seen many wingers selected before centers. Teams usually pick BPA early in the draft. My point on Gormley was that he dropped for a reason. The so called experts saw it, but we didn't. There has to be another reason why Guenther dropped.

 

[rt]

That's a poor argument. I have seen many wingers selected before centers. Teams usually pick BPA early in the draft. My point on Gormley was that he dropped for a reason. The so called experts saw it, but we didn't. There has to be another reason why Guenther dropped.

You can call it a poor argument if you want but it’s the facts. He was the 1st winger off the board (depending on who you talk to re: Eklund).

Chychrun dropped too. He was always the 2nd guy on every team’s list (including Arizona’s when we took Keller). In a re-draft, he’d go way higher. As high or higher than where he was originally projected. Chychrun didn’t fall due to red flags. It was team list happenstance. Could easily be Guenther.

Gormley wasn’t even the only insane faller on his draft day. Fowler tumbled right along with him. He ended up just fine. And the Rangers took Dylan McIlrath before both of them.

I’d try to just let go of Gormley. He looked good post draft before injuries anyway. No telling if he would have proved them wrong before he lost more mobility.

 

[Jakey53]

You can call it a poor argument if you want but it’s the facts. He was the 1st winger off the board (depending on who you talk to re: Eklund).

Chychrun dropped too. He was always the 2nd guy on every team’s list (including Arizona’s when we took Keller). In a re-draft, he’d go way higher. As high or higher than where he was originally projected. Chychrun didn’t fall due to red flags. It was team list happenstance. Could easily be Guenther.

Gormley wasn’t even the only insane faller on his draft day. Fowler tumbled right along with him. He ended up just fine. And the Rangers took Dylan McIlrath before both of them.

I’d try to just let go of Gormley. He looked good post draft before injuries anyway. No telling if he would have proved them wrong before he lost more mobility.

If I'm not mistaken, hbk thought Chychrun dropped because of his poor play in some tournament. What I'm trying to say, players drop for a reason. Now, the reason might be wrong, but there is a reason and I don't believe it's position. It would be wonderful if he turned into a Hall type player.

 

[Grimes]

If I'm not mistaken, hbk thought Chychrun dropped because of his poor play in some tournament. What I'm trying to say, players drop for a reason. Now, the reason might be wrong, but there is a reason and I don't believe it's position. It would be wonderful if he turned into a Hall type player.

I think the lack of playing time in 2021 would be a huge factor in Guenther's drop. Not only because scouts didn't get as many opportunities to see him compared to Euro or collegiate players but also due to position. Say you are selecting 5th and it's between a center you seen play 20 games and a winger you seen 20 games. You have them ranked pretty evenly due to their play this season. I feel most teams lean on the position with higher demand in a draft year with so many unknowns. I could be wrong too but look back at the top ten in 2021 vs other years and there seems to be a bias against wingers.

 

[lanky]

Guenther didn't stand out at the U18s. Pinelli and Stankoven, among others, out scored him. That helped us get him.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

Guenther didn't stand out at the U18s. Pinelli and Stankoven, among others, out scored him. That helped us get him.

This is true, he had 1 bad tournament, and it really wasn't that bad still over PPG, but he didn't do as well as he was expected to do