Kaiden Guhle

Kaiden Guhle (born January 18, 2002) is a Canadian junior ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) as a prospect to the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 16th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Kaiden Guhle
Born (2002-01-18) January 18, 2002
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Montreal Canadiens
Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
NHL Draft 16th overall, 2020
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 2021present

Early life

Guhle was born on January 18, 2002, in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada[1] to parents Carrianne and Mark.[2] He was born into an athletic family; his mother was a figure skater, his father played basketball, and his older brother Brendan Guhle is a professional ice hockey player. As a result, the Guhle brothers began power skating at a young age.[3]

Playing career

Guhle was selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 WHL draft by the Prince Albert Raiders. In his first full season with the Raiders, the team won Ed Chynoweth Cup as the finals champion of the WHL. They played in the 2019 Memorial Cup, but did not advance out of the round-robin.[4] During the 2019–20 season, he had 40 points in 64 games.[1]

On October 6, 2020, Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, 16th overall, at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He was later signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canadiens on October 21, 2020, which included bonuses to a maximum of $420,000 in each season.[5] However, in November he was loaned to the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League until December 20.[6]

With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the 2020–21 WHL season being reduced and delayed, Guhle began the season playing three games with the Laval Rocket in the AHL before joining the Canadian junior national team preparations. Due to a subsequent hand injury, he played only two games with the Raiders in the WHL, before resuming full training in June of 2021.[7]

Guhle made a strong impression at the Canadiens' training camp prior to the 2021–22 NHL season, and as a result coach Dominique Ducharme seriously weighed retaining him in the lineup, though noting it would not make sense to do so unless there was a regular place for him in the top six. Guhle himself said that he had not expected to still be in consideration a day before the roster announcement.[8] Ultimately he was not taken up, and returned to Prince Albert.[9] Guhle played seventeen games with the Raiders, registering 2 goals and 13 assists, before being traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings on December 1.[10] The trade was part of the Oil Kings' bid to challenge the Winnipeg Ice for the WHL championship title.[4] Guhle record five goals and twenty assists in 25 regular season games with the Oil Kings, and was named the WHL Central Division's defenceman of the year.[11] After missing the final weeks of the regular season due to injury, he returned for the first game of the 2022 WHL playoffs, and scored three goals and two assists in the Oil Kings' four-game sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the quarterfinals.[12]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2021 Canada
Hlinka Gretzky Cup
2019 Slovakia/Czech Republic

On November 3, 2018, Guhle was named captain of Team Canada Red at the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.[13] Following this, he was selected to join the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team at the 2021 World Junior Championships.[14] He finished the World Juniors with two goals and an assist in seven games as the team earned a silver medal following a loss to the United States.[15] The following year, Guhle was named captain of the Canadian team for the 2022 World Junior Championships.[16] After playing two games, the tournament was cancelled as a result of Omicron variant spread. Guhle said it was a disappointment given it being his final year of eligibility.[4]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2017–18 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 80114
2018–19 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 653141740 230338
2019–20 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 6411294056
2020–21 Laval Rocket AHL 30000
2020–21 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 21120
2021–22 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 172131528
2021–22 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 255202529
AHL totals 30000

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2018 Canada Red U17 4th 603312
2019 Canada HG18 501112
2021 Canada WJC 72134
Junior totals 1825728

References

  1. "Kaiden Guhle". eliteprospects.com. Elite Prospects. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. Dumont, Marc (October 16, 2020). "Kaiden Guhle has winning on his mind". nhl.com. National Hockey League. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  3. Kennedy, Ryan (April 26, 2019). "2020 Sneak Peek: Less is more for future stud Guhle". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  4. Van Diest, Derek (January 16, 2022). "Defenceman Kaiden Guhle fitting in well with Edmonton Oil Kings". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  5. Kimelman, Adam (April 9, 2020). "Three-year, entry-level contract for defenseman Kaiden Guhle". nhl.com. National Hockey League. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  6. "Bandits sign Ozzy Wiesblatt and Jake Neighbours on loan from WHL". brooksbandits.ca. Brooks Bandits. November 2, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  7. Book, Jared (September 18, 2021). "2021 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #5 Kaiden Guhle". Habs Eyes on the Prize. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  8. Hickey, Pat (October 9, 2021). "Canadiens prospect Kaiden Guhle surprised he's still in camp". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  9. Arpon Basu [@ArponBasu] (11 October 2021). "Dominique Ducharme announces Kaiden Guhle is heading to Prince Albert, he will not start the season with the Canadiens" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  10. Wahl, Chris (December 1, 2021). "NHL prospects Guhle, Latimer swapped in blockbuster deal". Western Hockey League. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  11. Western Hockey League [@TheWHL] (21 April 2022). "Kaiden Guhle averaged a point per game during his 25 appearances with the Oil Kings, leading the Club's blueline corps in that category" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  12. MacMillan, Stu (April 30, 2022). "Kaiden Guhle Helps Edmonton Oil Kings Earn First Round Sweep". A Winning Habit. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  13. "Canada names Captains as World Under-17 Hockey Challenge gets underway". chl.ca. Canadian Hockey League. November 3, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  14. Braverman, Dan (December 11, 2020). "Kaiden Guhle named to Team Canada roster for WJC". nhl.com. National Hockey League. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  15. Jones, Shane (January 12, 2021). "Guhle looks to find Team Canada silver lining". sherwoodparknews.com. Sherwood Park News. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  16. Cowan, Stu (December 20, 2021). "Canadiens prospect Kaiden Guhle named captain of Team Canada juniors". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
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