Edmonton’s Dylan Guenther could reverse Red Wings’ WHL draft history

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of profiles of the top prospects for the NHL Draft on July 23-24, 2021.

Historically, the Detroit Red Wings haven’t had much success with first-round draft picks from the Western Hockey League.

Since the first NHL amateur draft in 1963, Detroit has selected more players from the WHL (11) than from any other league or country.

The most productive first-round picks were Murray Craven (Medicine Hat, 1982) and Mike Sillinger (Regina, 1989) with a combined 1,307 career points, and current Red Wing Michael Rasmussen (Tri City, 2017) is a promising two-way center, but the other eight first-rounders averaged less than 60 points in brief or non-existent careers.

Fast forward to the 2021 NHL draft and high-scoring winger Dylan Guenther of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings might be an option for Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman (Peterborough, 1983), who turned out to be the best of Detroit’s 10 first-round picks from the Ontario Hockey League with 1,755 regular-season points.

The 6-1, 185-pound Guenther was tied with Sweden defenseman Simon Edvinsson for second behind University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power in TSN draft analyst Bob McKenzie’s midterm rankings, and two of McKenzie’s 10 NHL scouts had Guenther going first overall.

After winning the WHL rookie of the year award with 26 goals and 59 points in 58 games in the 2019-20 season, the Edmonton-born Guenther scored 12 goals in 12 games in the 2020 pandemic-shortened season and averaged a point per game in seven games with the gold-medal winning Canadian team at the world U18 championships in Texas.

Detroit won’t find out its first-round draft position until the NHL lottery on June 2, but Oil Kings coach Brad Lauer said the Red Wings can’t go wrong if they take Guenther, especially if defensemen Power, Edvinsson and USA Hockey’s Luke Hughes are already off the board.

“Dylan is an elite hockey player who has really grown his game within the team concept,” said Lauer, who scored 44 career goals with the New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1986-1996 and was an assistant coach with Yzerman’s Tampa Bay Lightning from 2015-2018.

“He was the first player taken in the bantam draft and he wanted to live up to those expectations in his hometown. He started on the fourth line as a 16-year-old, struggled a bit but didn’t complain.

“He asked questions, earned his ice time and worked his way through the lineup to the first line. He understands that when you’re winning games, success follows and it actually helps your point production.”

More: NHL-bound defenseman Luke Hughes follows in brothers’ footsteps

More: ‘Late bloomer’ Kent Johnson takes big strides at Michigan, in NHL draft rankings

More: Michigan’s Matt Beniers patterned two-way game after Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk

Guenther said it’s “flattering” to be on McKenzie’s draft list and he was “grateful” to learn from the bottom up with the Oil Kings so “he’ll know how to handle it later in his career.”

He said he tries to “pattern his game” after Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, who has 172 goals in the last six years and added two goals in Monday’s series-clinching, triple-overtime victory in Game 4 against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

“He’s (Scheifele) extremely versatile who can play in any situation,” Guenther said. “He can also score goals and make plays in the offensive zone. I think we have a lot of similar attributes such as speed, shooting and vision.”

Guenther said he also “learned to implement a few tactics” from playing on the same Canadian U18 team last month as the projected No. 1 overall picks for the next two NHL drafts and possible Red Wings’ lottery picks in 2022 and 2023.

Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright (2022) and Regina Pats center Connor Bedard (2023) led Canada in scoring with 14 points each.

“They’re both unbelievable players, special talents and can do great things on the ice with the puck on their stick,” Guenther said.

“Off the ice, they both conduct themselves like pros. You wouldn’t think they’re as young as they are and how dedicated they are to the game.”

Lauer says junior players like Guenther have to be dedicated, especially in the WHL with long bus rides through four provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia) and two U.S. states (Washington, Oregon).

“A 10- to 12-hour bus trip doesn’t give you the right to have a bad game,” Lauer said. “You can still make good decisions. Be ready to play. Don’t stay out too long for a shift. How you play in those moments is what keeps you in the NHL.”

Guenther said he would welcome being drafted by the Red Wings and looks forward to getting stronger in the offseason before returning for a Memorial Cup run in Edmonton along with 6-6 goaltender Sebastian Cossa, who could be available with Detroit’s second first-round pick acquired from the Washington Capitals in the Anthony Mantha trade.

“Growing up in Edmonton, I watched them (Red Wings) in the finals quite a few times,” Guenther said. “Detroit is a hockey city with so much history. They’re building a great team and I would love to be a part of that.”

mfalkner@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @falkner