The NHL is ‘going to be afraid’ of Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther soon. Here’s why.

Dylan Guenther can pick out the slim gap over a goaltender’s shoulder — but he cannot pinpoint the moment his shot became such a weapon.

It is just something he has always done.

“We had an unfinished basement in my house and I just shot a lot of pucks,” Guenther said. “It’s what I like to do and I was always pretty good at it. Still to this day when I go home, my brother and I will rip pucks in the basement.”

Those hours in the basement turned Guenther from a kid with a hobby to a full-fledged goalscorer in the NHL.

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

It has all come down to his shot.

While Guenther is unafraid to battle for the greasier goals down low, most of his scoring opportunities come from a bit further out — around the face-off dots and high slot. The puck is in the back of the net before you realize Guenther even shot it. It is part of what has made him such a successful goalscorer so early in his career.

“Just try to get it off quick. Since the goalies are super good, just try to get it off as fast as I can and I think that’s probably the one thing,” Guenther said.

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

“The ceiling, there is no ceiling for him. He’s still developing, he’s young and he’s going to continue to get better and better,” Kerfoot said. “His shot is one of the best that I’ve seen and that I’ve been around. I’ve played with some good goalscorers — 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 goalies can read it very well,” Kerfoot said. “There are certain guys that like to shoot it in certain spots, he puts it all over the net and he gets it off real quick. I think that’s the biggest thing — how quick his release is.”

Guenther said his “whippier” stick helps him achieve this effect. Hockey sticks have flex ratings from around 30 to 110; the lower the number, the more flexible the stick. Most NHL players use a flex rating between 85 and 100. Guenther uses a 77 flex, he said, and hasn’t strayed from it even as a younger player.

“Just don’t need as much time — don’t need to put as much into it to get more out of it,” Guenther said. “I’ve been using the same stick for four years, the same kind of line ever since I was growing up. It’s just a stock stick and I never really changed it.”

Guenther used that same stick to make a dent 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 his NHL selection in 2021.

Brad Lauer, who was the Oil Kings’ head coach when Guenther was there, said the goalscoring abilities have always been apparent. Lauer specifically remembers calling up a 15-year-old Guenther during the 2018-19 season for eight games.

“He scored three goals for us and two of those goals I remember were goals that were scored with quick release, over the goalie’s shoulder, short side, far side,” Lauer said. “I remember talking to our staff about it — and he was 15 at the time — and I said, ‘You know what, we don’t have a guy on our team that can score those types of goals right now at 19 and 20.’”

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

“He loves to shoot the puck which is a great asset,” Lauer said. “A lot of these kids coming up want to pass the puck, pass the puck to the net. Dylan had that mindset — he was a shooter."

From a defenseman’s perspective, Mikhail Sergachev agreed that Guenther’s speedy release is what makes his shot so hard to defend. The quickness of Guenther’s shot is tied to how little space he needs to get the puck off his stick at a high velocity. The forward does not have a big wind-up; he holds power in a laser-like snapshot instead.

“Michael Kesselring needs five feet of ice to shoot the puck from behind him until the release. Guenther doesn’t have that release — it only takes him like a foot to get rid of the puck,” Sergachev said. “That’s why if you get close to him he shoots. It’s tough to block his shot because you don’t know when it’s coming. … With Guenther, he can shoot from any spot. Close to him, far from him. It’s lethal.”

Sergachev orchestrates 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 left face-off circle somewhat of his certified office.

When the power play is moving the puck well and shifting the opponents’ defense across the zone, Guenther is left open and ready to fire. It usually results in a Utah goal.

“We can’t really force it to him all the time. I feel like he doesn’t have the same respect as Ovechkin and those guys, but eventually he will get there,” Sergachev said. “As of now, when I see it open I give it to him obviously. When he’s ready to pound it, it’s a good opportunity to score, I’ll always give it to him.”

Sergachev is another player who skated with some of the league’s top talent before arriving in Utah. The defenseman was with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2017-2024 and helped set up goalscorers like future hall-of-famer Steven Stamkos. Sergachev, too, sees Guenther taking his game to the next level as he matures as an NHL regular.

“I want him to be a superstar and I want him to dominate. He’s got all the tools, definitely. He’s got the right mindset, that’s the main thing. He’s not run and gun. He plays with responsibility,” Sergachev said.

“It’s going to take him a year or two, and the league is going to be afraid of him.”