‘The league is going to be afraid of him’

Dylan Guenther can pinpoint the narrow gap over the goalkeeper's shoulder, but he can't pinpoint the moment his shot became such a weapon.

It's just something he's always done.

“We had an unfinished basement at my house and I shot a lot of pucks,” Guenther said. “It's what I love to do and I've always been good at it. To this day, when I come home, my brother and I will be shredding pucks in the basement.”

Those hours spent in the basement transformed Guenther from a kid with a hobby into a complete NHL scorer.

At 21 years old, Guenther leads the Utah Hockey League in points (29) and goals (13). The second-line forward scored three goals in two games during the team's recent road trip and has scored 12 points in the last 10 games.

It all came down to his shot.

While Guenther is not afraid to fight for the more dangerous goals, most of his scoring opportunities come from a little further out – around face-off points and high openings. The ball is in the back of the net before you realize Guenther has shot it. It's part of what made him such a successful scorer so early in his career.

“Just try to get rid of it quickly. Since the goalkeepers are so good, I just try to get them away as quickly as possible and I think that's probably the only thing,” Guenther said.

Alex Kerfoot said Guenther has “one of the best” shots he's seen. This is coming from a guy who spent four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that boasts some of the league's greatest power forwards in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner.

“The ceiling, it has no ceiling. “He's still developing, he's young and he's going to continue to get better,” Kerfoot said. “His shots are one of the best I've seen and been around. I've played with some good scorers, and he does it in different ways.

Guenther has proven he can shoot from anywhere on the ice, but what makes him so effective?

“I don't think goalkeepers can read it very well,” Kerfoot said. “There are some players who like to hit the ball in certain places, he puts it over the net and hits it very quickly. I think that's the most important thing – how quickly he releases it.

Gunter said his “whip” stick helps him achieve this effect. Hockey sticks have flex ratings ranging from about 30 to 110; The lower the number, the more flexible the stick. Most NHL players use a flex rating between 85 and 100. He said Guenther uses a 77 flex rating, and he didn't stray from it even when he was a younger player.

“I don't need a lot of time, and I don't need to put in a lot of time to get the most out of it,” Guenther said. “I've been using the same stick for four years, the same type of line since I was growing up. It's just an arrow stick and I've never changed it.

Guenther used the same stick to make an impact in the Western Hockey League. The Edmonton native was drafted first overall in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft by the Edmonton Oil Kings and played three seasons in the league before being selected for the NHL in 2021.

Brad Loyer, who was the Oil Kings' coach when Guenther was there, said his goal-scoring abilities were always evident. Lauer specifically recalls calling up 15-year-old Gunter during the 2018-19 season for eight games.

“He scored three goals for us, and two of those goals that I remember were goals that were scored with a quick pass, over the goalkeeper's shoulder, from the short side, from the far side,” Lauer said. “I remember talking to our staff about it – he was 15 at the time – and I said: ‘You know what, we don’t have a guy in our team who can score those kind of goals at the moment when he’s 19, 20 years old.’”

Guenther continued to develop in the WHL and scored 91 points (45 goals, 46 assists) over 59 games in his final season with the Oil Kings.

“He loves shooting the ball, which is great,” Loyer said. “A lot of these kids coming in want to pass the puck, get the puck to the net. Dylan had that mentality, he was a shooter.”

From a defenceman's perspective, Mikhail Sergachev agreed that Guenther's quick release is what makes his shot so difficult to defend. Guenther's shot speed is related to how little space he needs to get the puck off his stick at high speed. The attacker doesn't have much wind. He has the power in a laser-like shot instead.

“Michael Kesselring needs five feet of ice to get the puck behind him for it to release. Gunter doesn't have that release, it only takes one foot to get the puck off,” Sergachev said. “That's why if you get close to him he shoots. It's hard to block his shot because you don't know when it's going to come. …With Guenther, he can shoot from anywhere. Close to him, far from him. “It's deadly.”

Sergachev coordinates the first power play unit with Guenther, Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz from the point. Guenther has five goals on the man advantage this season and has made the faceoff circle somewhat left of his approved desk.

When the power play moves the puck well and turns the opposing defense across the zone, Guenther is left open and ready to shoot. It usually leads to a goal for Utah.

“We can't force it on him all the time. I feel like he doesn't have the same respect that Ovechkin and those guys have, but he'll get there eventually,” Sergachev said. “As of now, when I see him open, I give it to him obviously. When he's ready to shoot the ball, it's a good scoring chance, and I'll always give it to him.

Sergeyshev is another player who skated with some of the best talent in the league before arriving at Utah State. The defenseman was with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2017-2024 and helped groom scorers like future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos. Sergeychev also sees Guenther taking his game to the next level as he matures as a regular in the NHL.

“I want him to be a star and I want him to dominate. He has all the tools for sure. He has the right mentality, that's the main thing. He doesn't run away with a gun. He plays responsibly,” Sergachev said.

“It will take a year or two, and the league will be afraid of it.”