World Juniors Bound: Dylan Guenther
As we count down to the start of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, we’re featuring each of the 11 WHL players set to represent Canada at the event.
We continue our series with Arizona Coyotes forward and former Edmonton Oil King Dylan Guenther.
One year after he set out on his first World Juniors journey, Dylan Guenther is getting his shot to skate for Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
A lot has happened since Guenther, and the rest of Team Canada, were sent home from the abbreviated tournament last December (he did not re-join the Canadians for their gold-medal triumph in August). A WHL Championship and 21 NHL contests with the Arizona Coyotes helped shape a memorable 2022 for the 19-year-old Edmontonian.
With this year’s Canadian squad, Guenther serves as one of three loanees from the NHL, and brings with him experience that extends beyond the 11 points he has registered with the Coyotes this season.
Guenther will wear an ‘A’ for Canada at this year’s tournament, and has made sure to pick the brains of his Coyotes teammates about what to expect leading into Canada’s tournament opener on Boxing Day.
“Lawson Crouse is a guy that sticks out. He went through this, he played on this team and he’s good to the young guys,” Guenther told TSN.
The 25-year-old Crouse plied his junior trade in the Ontario Hockey League and was a two-time World Juniors participant, winning gold with Canada in 2015.
🇨🇦 alternate captain Dylan Guenther says being around Lawson Crouse taught him power of small gestures
"Even something like a little fist bump in the morning, it goes a long way … He texted me a couple days ago to ask me how I'm doing"@ArizonaCoyoteshttps://t.co/B2uzR5fVeW
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 19, 2022
Guenther spent his entire WHL career with the Oil Kings, scoring 46 times a season ago before helping Edmonton to its third Ed Chynoweth Cup in modern franchise history.
With Canada, he’ll be re-united with several WHL players with whom he shares a hometown bond. Along with forwards Colton Dach, Zack Ostapchuk, Reid Schaefer and defenceman Olen Zellweger, Guenther is one of five Edmonton-area players to be called to wear the Maple Leaf this winter.
Colton Dach, Reid Schaefer, Olen Zellweger, Dylan Guenther and Zack Ostapchuk will be bringing a little Edmonton magic to Halifax for the #WorldJuniors : https://t.co/Q14lFAeAAu@HockeyCanada pic.twitter.com/wUirlpuLhT
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 21, 2022
An injury kept him from competing in the Memorial Cup presented by Kia in Saint John, N.B. this past June, Guenther is making sure not to take this trip to the Maritimes for granted.
“To play for this team, it’s a special thing and to get a letter, that’s something I’ll hold close to me.”
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