The Arizona Coyotes officially loaned forward Dylan Guenther to Team Canada’s World Junior Championship camp, which begins Friday in Moncton.
Guenther, 19, has spent the entire season with the Coyotes, posting 11 points in 21 games. He was previously part of Canada’s roster at the cancelled 2022 tournament but didn’t return for the second go-around in August.
He’s been a stalwart with Canada’s national team in the past, recording seven points in a key scoring role at the 2021 U-18 World Championship. He had a pair of assists in two games before the 2022 WJC was prematurely canceled.
Guenther will be a huge addition to a team that also got Shane Wright and Brandt Clarke this week. Wright, Guenther and Brennan Othmann made up one of the most dominant lines in recent U-18 World Championship history in 2021 and will likely be reunited to make up Canada’s top trio again. Wright and Othmann have the history of playing with each other from a young age with the Don Mills Flyers, while Guenther’s smart and overall strong offensive game will slot in quite nicely. Even with all the high-quality prospects on this team, Guenther should compete for the tournament’s MVP title.
Canada will now have 32 players at camp, meaning it’ll have to cut one goalie, five forwards and three defenders. The team has a pair of games against a U Sports select group over the weekend, with roster cuts expected early next week.
Drafted ninth overall in 2021, Guenther will likely return to the Coyotes once the tournament ends. After having some looks higher up in the lineup at points, he has mostly been relegated to bottom-six duty alongside fellow first-round pick Barrett Hayton. Guenther is part of the team’s future, and with the Coyotes far out of the playoff race, it made sense to have the top young forward playing with a gold-medal favorite against other top young prospects.
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