Earning all those pucks earned the 21-year-old something else: an eight-year contract he signed Sept. 20 that starts next season.
“The projection I see in him is he’s going to be a top-end player, and that was important for us to make sure that we got him locked up for a long time,” Armstrong said. “He’s a core for this franchise. If we’re going to win a championship, it’s going to be with Dylan Guenther.”
That kind of pressure can be tough to handle, but Guenther said he won’t let outside noise determine how he plays.
“It brings kind of a different approach, I guess, a little bit more of a leadership role,” he said. “To know that I’m going to be here for a long time, it’s exciting. It’s a new team, a new city, new franchise. The fan base has been super supportive, and, yeah, it’s been a lot of fun. So I don’t really worry about [the contract]. I just try to do whatever I can to be a little bit better every day.”
Coach Andre Tourigny certainly has noticed that improvement, playing Guenther in all situations.
“The one thing Dylan has, is he is good in every phase of the game,” Tourigny said. “He’s really good at defending. He has a really good stick. He sees the ice well offensively and defensively. Takes a lot of pride in that. So that’s a good step, because that means the coach will put you on the ice. And then when you’re on the ice, and you have his talent, you have an opportunity, shoot the puck really well, but he does so many good things on the ice. That’s the difference.
“It’s just a matter of maturity and getting stronger and faster for him. He’s doing that every day.”