Kaiden Guhle celebrating one of his 11 goals this past season. (Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Gutsy Guhle

Guhle learned ‘what it takes to win’ during championship season, as he impatiently awaits the draft

Aug 13, 2020 | 2:42 PM

The pure anticipation of the NHL Entry Draft can be a lot to handle for players in their draft year — as they wonder where they will go, or if they’ll even be drafted.

But for this year’s crop of draft prospects like Prince Albert Raiders’ defenceman Kaiden Guhle, that wait is even more excruciating. In a normal year, the draft would have already happened a month and a half ago back in late June. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a wrench into everything and forcing all kinds of delays, Guhle and the rest of the prospects will have to wait until Oct. 9 to 10.

“It’s a little bit frustrating at times. You just want to get it over with and be able to see what happens and what team you go to, and just get the experience,” Guhle said. “But everyone’s in the same boat. You just have to wait it out, play the waiting game, and just see what happens.”

By most accounts, Guhle is projected to be picked in the first round of the draft. On Thursday, Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino projected in a mock draft that Guhle would be selected 11^th overall by the Nashville Predators. Back on Monday, TSN’s Craig Button conducted a mock draft himself and predicted Guhle going 12^th overall to the Florida Panthers. TSN’s Bob McKenzie had previously ranked Guhle 14^th overall. ISS Hockey also has Guhle 14^th overall, while Elite Prospects (21^st) and Future Considerations (25^th) have Guhle ranked late in the first round.

Kaiden Guhle has been a physical presence for the Raiders, as well as producing offensively. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

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Guhle scored 11 goals and 40 points, leading all 2002-born defenceman in both categories. Despite being in his second year on a blue line including two 20-year-olds, Guhle was easily the best point-producing defenceman on the Raiders. Overager captain Zack Hayes and 17-year-old rookie Landon Kosior, who’s also eligible for this year’s entry draft, both had a more than respectable 23-point showing on the season. But to put that in perspective, Guhle had more assists than they had total points, with 29.

Those numbers are big increases from his 16-year-old rookie season, when he scored three goals and 17 points in 65 games. Even though he was the first overall pick of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, Guhle found himself in a sheltered role in his rookie year, playing limited minutes on a veteran-stacked blue line that helped lead the Raiders to lift the 2019 Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was very impressed with how Guhle handled that situation, and how he responded when he was thrust into a bigger role for his sophomore season.

“He was healthy scratched, once for sure if not a couple times, he played limited minutes — but not once did he complain,” Habscheid said in post-game interviews on Oct. 6, after Guhle had a one-goal, three-assist night in a 6-0 win over the Regina Pats. “That’s just a testament to his character. He trusted us about the process and about being patient. Now he’s ready. He’s ready for prime time. He’s in a big role, he plays in all situations for us not because he’s a first overall pick, but because he’s earned it and he’s played real well.”

Guhle’s “character” was evident throughout the year, especially in a Jan. 25 home game against the Medicine Hat Tigers. In the first period of that game, Guhle was cut with a high stick and required a few cosmetic repairs from Raiders’ athletic therapist Duane ‘Puff’ Bartley. Then halfway through the third period, Guhle was taken out with a controversial knee-on-knee collision by Tigers’ forward Lukas Svejkovsky. But less than four game-time minutes later, Guhle completely sidestepped Brett Kemp and scored a highlight-reel goal to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime.

Although the Raiders eventually lost the game 4-3 in a shootout, Guhle made a statement to the rest of his team and to all the scouts in the stands watching him — that he will do anything for his hockey club. Guhle said he learned that during the Raiders’ championship run last year, and “what you have to do to win.”

“That’s how bad I want to win, and that’s something to show the other players, the new players on the team— that you have to go through that stuff to win,” Guhle said. “I think I could have easily shut it down and taken the rest of the night off, but that’s not me. I didn’t want my teammates to think of me like that.”

Zooming with Team Canada

Kaiden Guhle while captaining Team Canada Red at the World Under-17’s in Nov. 2018. (Hockey Canada/Twitter)

Guhle was invited to the development camp for Hockey Canada’s World Junior team this year. But due to the pandemic, the camp was forced to be held virtually. It turned out to be a zoom conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Despite the unique format of the camp, Guhle took a lot out of it and was honoured to even have the opportunity of wearing the maple leaf at the World Juniors in the future.

“It was definitely different. I think a lot of guys were pretty surprised with how well it went. Everyone was saying it went better than expected. It was a good experience,” Guhle said. “Getting the chance to represent your country at the world juniors is a huge honour, so I was just happy to be there and having that experience is great.”

Hitting the links

After winning the 2019 WHL championship and playing in the Memorial Cup until well late into May, then getting silver at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky in the Czech Republic in August, Guhle didn’t have a whole lot of time to get on the golf course last year.

But this year with the shortened season, and next season not starting until at least December, Guhle has a lot more time on his hands. When he’s not sharpening his hockey skills or hitting the gym, Guhle has been golfing as much as he can. He’s also mixed in the odd fishing trip as well.

“I’ve been golfing a lot, whenever I get the chance. I’ve been fishing a lot too, those are probably the biggest things I’ve been doing — staying outdoors,” Guhle said. “Video games got pretty old after staying inside for a whole month.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW