If the Vancouver Canucks could hit the \u201cundo\u201d button on one trade in the last decade or so, it would have to be the one that ultimately landed Dylan Guenther with the Utah Mammoth.<\/p>\n
In a draft day trade in 2021, the then-Arizona Coyotes acquired the ninth overall pick from the Canucks, which the Coyotes used to select Guenther.<\/p>\n
Five years later, \u201cGunner\u201d has five goals and 11 points in 10 career games against the Canucks \u2014 including a goal and an assist in the Mammoth\u2019s 7-4 win at Rogers Arena on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also two goals away from the 40 mark for the season. For context, Brock Boeser leads the Canucks in goals this season with 21.<\/p>\n
The only things the Canucks have left from the deal are a pair of mediocre draft picks from flipping Conor Garland to the Columbus Blue Jackets and four more seasons of millions in dead cap space after buying Oliver Ekman-Larsson\u2019s contract out two years later.<\/p>\n
But Guenther\u2019s two points on Saturday were only half of what the game\u2019s leading scorer, Clayton Keller, contributed. Among his four points were three goals, lining up his third career hat trick and his first with the Utah franchise.<\/p>\n
In true Keller fashion, he shrugged off his success without even cracking a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good, for sure. Great plays by the guys on all of them, so, yeah, it\u2019s good to score, for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was an all-hands-on-deck type of win for the Mammoth, with 13 different players recording points (including five of the six defensemen). Their third win in a row maintains their healthy lead in the wild card race, though they still haven\u2019t officially clinched a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
Through two seasons of existence, Utah remains perfect against Vancouver. The Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres are the only other teams that have yet to beat the league\u2019s newest team, though each of them has only seen Utah four times, as opposed to Vancouver\u2019s six.<\/p>\n
How deep can you go?<\/p>\n
Depth is a trait of virtually every Stanley Cup-winning team. The regular season is a grind and the playoffs are even more intense, so there are always injuries. The best teams find ways to overcome them.<\/p>\n
With a few exceptions, the Mammoth have been largely fortunate this season on the injury front \u2014 unlike last year, when two of their top four defensemen missed more than half the season. But over the last week or so, guys have started to drop.<\/p>\n
It began with Barrett Hayton, who collided with a teammate just seconds into the Mammoth\u2019s March 24 game against the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> and is now out on a week-to-week basis.<\/p>\n In Thursday\u2019s game against the Seattle Kraken<\/a>, Jack McBain took an Adam Larsson shot to the leg and is also out week to week. NHL Edge lists Larsson in the 92nd percentile in shot speed, so you can imagine how much that must have stung.<\/p>\n This is the first game in franchise history that Jack McBain hasn’t played.<\/p>\n The only guys that have yet to miss a game are Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole.#TusksUp<\/a><\/p>\n