The Utah Hockey Club has announced an eight-year contract extension for Dylan Guenther.
Details about the financials were kept under wraps by the team, but Craig Morgan from PHNX Sports revealed that Guenther’s deal will have a $7.143M cap hit, totaling over $57.14M. This makes it the priciest contract in franchise history since they emerged from the Arizona Coyotes’ remnants. Starting next season, Guenther will be the second-highest-paid forward on the team, just behind Clayton Keller’s $7.15M cap hit.
Drafted ninth overall in 2021, Guenther was always seen as a future key player for the Coyotes and now for Utah. Although he hasn’t spent a full regular season in the NHL yet, this hefty contract shows how much faith they have in him. After his draft year with WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, he made it to Coyotes’ opening night roster for 2022-23 and scored six goals with nine assists in 33 games .
Guenther played around 13 minutes per game on average before being sent back to juniors in February to focus on long-term development. Surprisingly left off last season’s opening-night roster, he was assigned to AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners instead.
Contract Implications:
He quickly proved himself too good for AHL by scoring 28 points in 29 games before being recalled in January. In the latter half of 2023-24, he showed his worth at NHL level with 18 goals and 17 assists over 45 games while averaging more than 16 minutes per game. If he’d played all season, he would have been second only to Keller with projected 64 points.
Fans might think this is a bold move by Utah.
This year, he’s expected to be on the starting roster as a second-line right wing behind Keller. However, committing max-term money to someone with limited experience is risky despite his high potential.
If Guenther becomes a consistent scorer hitting around 70 points each season as salary caps rise, this could turn out to be a steal for Utah. But there’s immediate pressure on him now due to this big contract .
The deal keeps him tied until summer of 2033 when he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency at age 30. Any trade protection clauses can’t kick in before the start of the 2030-31 season when he’d originally become an unrestricted free agent anyway.
Elliotte Friedman from Sportsnet first reported that Utah and Guenther were close to finalizing an eight-year agreement near $7M annual average value (AAV).
What do you think about this long-term deal?
