After pro stint with Syracuse, Gill focused on deep run with Moncton

Photo credit: Daniel St. Louis

First and foremost, Dyllan Gill is healthy.

So when he started the 2024-25 season playing professional hockey with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch – and scored twice in his pro debut – it really was a fairy-tale return to the ice.

Now back in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats, Gill is making the most of his final season of junior.

“You can research and learn and prepare yourself as much as you can for what professional hockey is like but when you’re actually living it, it’s completely different,” Gill said. “Getting that experience for three to four months and then obviously having the opportunity to bring it back to major junior is a huge benefit for me and my teammates.

“Now I’m just trying to share that wealth [of knowledge] a little bit in as many areas as I can and try to help my teammates as much as possible.”

So far, so good on that front. After Syracuse reassigned Gill back to junior in early January, the Wildcats then acquired the veteran blueliner from Rouyn-Noranda at the QMJHL trade deadline. In 13 games, Gill has played at a point-per-game pace for a Moncton team that leads the QMJHL with 38 wins and ranks second in the CHL. The Wildcats are 9-4-0 with Gill in the lineup.

While he gets to play for a President’s Cup and Memorial Cup contender, Gill also gets to live at home; his hometown of Riverview, N.B., is a suburb of Moncton.

“As a kid I grew up watching the Moncton Wildcats,” Gill said. “We had season tickets so I can’t really put into words what it means to me. I feel a lot of pride when I put the logo on. Everything about playing for the Wildcats is significant for me and just means a lot to me and obviously the opportunity to come back home and play for a contending team, I can’t really ask for much more.

“It’s a super special opportunity.”

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In 2022-23, Gill had a breakout campaign with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. After being selected 223rd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft by Tampa Bay, Gill finished tied sixth in scoring among QMJHL d-men with 57 points.

Named captain ahead of the 2023-24 season and poised for an even bigger campaign, a shoulder injury derailed his entire season. Gill’s season ended Nov. 19 after just 12 games.

“Injuries are part of the game and unfortunately it happened at a bad time for me,” Gill said.

But all was not lost; on May 24, Gill signed his entry-level contract with the Lightning. He subsequently made the team to start this season and played 24 games with the Crunch where he tallied four points (2G, 2A).

“He was very diligent and worked hard with the rehab and really wanted to get back,” said Stacy Roest, Crunch general manager and Lightning assistant general manager. “It’s hard mentally and physically because physically you’re trying to get stronger and mentally it’s a grind every day when you’re not playing hockey. He handled that well and used all of the resources he had and we gave him and excelled at that. He was spotless with his rehab and it showed.”

On the ice, Lightning brass were just as impressed.

“His hockey sense, the way he sees the game and the way he moves pucks,” Roest said when asked what stood out about Gill’s game. “He’s competitive. He’s smart. He’s got a good eye … he has a very very smart hockey mind.”

But with the Crunch blue line – that features CHL alumni like Tobie Bisson (Baie-Comeau/Cape Breton/Blainville-Boisbriand), Derrick Pouliot (Portland) and Roman Schmidt (Kitchener/Kingston) – getting healthy and Gill’s minutes trending downwards, the decision was made to reassign Gill back to the QMJHL.

“He had a great chance to go back to the CHL, [was] traded to a cup contender [where he] has a huge roll and gets lots of minutes so for development and his long-term future to be a Tampa Bay Lightning it was the right decision and so far, it’s been good for him,” Roest said.

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It was only 24 AHL games, but it is significant experience that Gill is going have when the 2025-26 rolls around.

“Usually, most people don’t get that experience until they’re a little bit older,” Gill said. “So, I think for me to get the opportunity to have that experience, get those games under my belt, see what the lifestyle was all about, living on my own for the first time … just a lot of things that come with being a professional hockey player.

“This experience now is going to help me a lot because I’m already going to have been through it a little bit so it’s going to be less unknown to me.”

It’s also going to help him in the immediate. Since his Moncton debut, Gill has primarily played alongside Boston Bruins prospect Loke Johansson on the back end.

“The game on the ice is a lot different,” Gill said while he noted that space on the ice as well as the size and speed of the players were the biggest differences he saw. “It’s important to try to keep those habits that I got in pro and bring them back to junior with me, even though the game might be a little bit different.”

With 20 games left in the regular season, the Wildcats are chasing a second Jean Rougeau Trophy as QMJHL regular season champions. But the goal is bigger than that – a third QMJHL title and a first ever Memorial Cup.

“Getting another chance at a Gilles Courteau Trophy and then ultimately hoping to chase a Memorial Cup at the end of the season, I think that’s a great way for me to be able to kind of get a second chance,” Gill said.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make the most of it.”