It seemed Dylan Guenther went missing.
The Utah Hockey Club forward logged just 2:13 of ice time in the first period of Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Delta Center. The team was skating 11 forwards and seven defensemen — one fewer forward and one more defenseman than usual — so Guenther’s absence shortened the bench even further.
It was intentional.
Head coach André Tourigny was sending a message to his 21-year-old star winger.
“There were reasons,” Tourigny said. “It’s between him and I. I like the way he responded.”
Guenther signed an eight-year, $57.14 million contract extension in September and is a top-six stalwart for Utah, but that doesn’t mean he is not still learning the intricacies of being an NHL pro.
Ahead of this season, Guenther played just 45 games with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24 after spending the first half of the year with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He has been handed real responsibility since emphatically making the opening-night roster out of Utah’s training camp.
His hot start — including 10 points (six goals, four assists) — to this season doesn’t come without its growing pains, though.
In the opening 30 minutes of Wednesday’s game, Guenther recognized he was “forcing plays,” not pushing hard enough on the forecheck and took an undisciplined slashing penalty in the first period.
“It’s a long game so I think you have to be able to recover and still manage to help the team out when you’re not feeling as good or not feeling the puck as well,” Guenther said.
Utah Hockey Club's Dylan Guenther (11) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Guenther did, in fact, recover and finished the night with two assists — both of which came on the power play — through 13:35 of total ice time. The forward did not mope around on the ice following his first-period benching. Instead, he was able to find his game within the game.
“I liked the way he played in the second half of the game as well,” Tourigny said. “I like everything about [Guenther]. But like your children, like my children, sometimes they need a little reminder of certain things.”
Guenther’s first assist of the night was on Mikhail Sergachev’s goal at 16:32 of the second period when Utah was skating 5-on-3. He also assisted on Clayton Keller’s third-period, power-play goal after his initial shot on net bounced over to the captain to one-time in for the 5-1 scoreline.
Guenther has been a main attraction on Utah’s first power play unit with Sergachev, Keller, Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz. His blast from the left circle has teams on high alert when defending the Hockey Club’s man advantage, and Guenther’s vision of the ice has helped his teammates produce.
He was also recently promoted to the first line where he is skating on the right wing alongside Logan Cooley and Keller. Guenther’s open communication with Tourigny has given him the confidence to take on the top role.
“You’re there for a reason,” Guenther said. “I think you just use the skills and the toolset that you have. That’s why the coach put you there and it will benefit the line.”
But offense is not the only part of Guenther’s game. He’s more than that. That’s exactly why Tourigny wants to push him to his highest potential.
“He’s the best defensive player on the team. He manages the puck, he has a great stick, he has great reads, he closes quickly on the puck,” Tourigny said. “He’s committed. That’s what he does when he’s at his best.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club Logan Cooley (92) and Utah Hockey Club Dylan Guenther (11) and Utah Hockey Club Alex Kerfoot (15) celebrate the 4th goal of the night near the end of the third period, in the inaugural game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Chicago Blackhawks, at the Delta Center, on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.
The goal for Guenther, along with the rest of the team, is to find consistency from shift to shift, period to period and night to night. That is the challenge with a young group. It is something Tourigny emphasized after Wednesday’s bounce-back victory: none of it matters if you cannot replicate the performance the next game.
Tourigny needs the best out of each one of his players to find regularity in Utah’s winning ways. Sometimes that means tough love for the team’s stars.
“Something like that, it keeps you on your toes. I think it’s important for me to not take it for granted and make sure that I’m earning my ice time and every day after it,” Guenther said.
“It’s important. I think in order for us to be the best team that we can be, everyone has to play their game and look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to help the team?’ I think that’s a good example of that.”
Utah now opens a four-game road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. It is a timely trial to see if the lessons learned — both individually and team-wide — from Wednesday’s win and the week’s previous losses can carry over to new opponents.
Guenther will be sure to come out with some fire, too.
“We’re playing some pretty good teams,” Guenther said. “It will be a good test for us coming from a big win like that.”
