Coyotes send forward Dylan Guenther to WHL

The Arizona Coyotes have assigned forward Dylan Guenther to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, per a team announcement. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong issued the following statement regarding this transaction:

Just like the World Junior Championships where Dylan helped lead Canada to a gold medal, this is a tremendous opportunity for him to join a very good Seattle club, play top line minutes, and hopefully lead his team to a Memorial Cup. Dylan has played well for us this season and he has a very bright future with the Coyotes. We look forward to watching his development the rest of the season.

In a corresponding move, the Coyotes have recalled forward Jean-Sebastien Dea from their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.

As PHNX’s Craig Morgan notes, Guenther was one game away from reaching enough games to accrue a year toward unrestricted free agent status, something that likely played a role in this decision. 

The Coyotes have already shaved a year off of his entry-level deal by playing him in more than nine games, but since they are now sending him to the WHL Guenther will need to wait a little longer to hit the open market, should that be a route he wishes to take.

The 19-year-old forward was drafted ninth overall by the Coyotes at the 2021 draft, with the pick the team got from the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Conor Garland trade. He starred for the Oil Kings the following season, scoring 91 points in 59 games en route a WHL championship.

Guenther made the Coyotes this season and finishes his season with them having played in a total of 33 games. 

He’s registered a healthy 15 points in that span, and now gets to return to the WHL with added confidence, having tested his mettle against the game’s best players.

Guenther joins the Seattle Thunderbirds, a team that surrendered a significant haul of draft picks to acquire him at the WHL’s trade deadline. 

The Thunderbirds are a Memorial Cup contender this season and one of the best teams in the WHL, boasting other top prospects such as Brad Lambert (WPG), Kevin Korchinski (CHI), Nolan Allan (CHI), Colton Dach (CHI), Reid Schaefer (EDM), Jordan Gustafson (VGK), Lucas Ciona (CGY), and Jared Davidson (MTL).

He has all the talent within himself and surrounding him to go on an extremely productive run to cap off what has been an encouraging season. 

He could even add some more silverware in the form of a Memorial Cup and/or WHL Championship after he already captured the World Junior Championships gold medal with Team Canada.

To fill Guenther’s spot on the roster, the Coyotes have recalled an AHL scorer, Dea. The 28-year-old has scored 19 goals and 37 points in 46 AHL games this season and was a top scorer for a Laval Rocket team last season that made it to the Calder Cup Semifinals. 

The AHL veteran has 33 NHL games on his resume and will now have the chance to skate in his first game in the world’s top league since 2020-21 when he played in one game for the Buffalo Sabres.