NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Brendan Guhle

Get to know Brendan Guhle

Date of Birth: 7/29/1997
Place of Birth: Sherwood Park, AB, CAN
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 184 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Defenseman
Team: Prince Albert Raiders

The WHL has become known for being a defensive-minded league, and producing its fair share of NHL blue-liners. Brendan Guhle appears to be on that path, utilizing strong skating and poise on the ice to be one of the more dependable players on a Prince Albert team that struggled this past season.

Guhle scored 5 goals and put up 32 points in 72 games for the Raiders, who were one of the poorer offensive teams in the WHL. It was a marked improvement over his rookie season, which saw him fail to score a goal and put up ten points in 52 games.

Central Scouting rates Guhle as the 56th best North American skater, and Future Considerations has him as the 88th best prospect overall in this year’s draft. His resume is boosted by a selection to Canada’s under-17 team in the WHC-17 tournament last year.

One thing that scouts should be impressed by with Guhle is that he handled big minutes and big responsibility for Prince Albert all season, especially after the Raiders traded their top defenseman, Josh Morrissey, to the Kelowna Rockets. You love seeing a player step up, and consistently perform against the best the other team has to offer.

Statistics

What Scouts See

Cody Nickolet, WHL Scout for Future Considerations Hockey

Brendan Guhle really has it all as a prospect. He’s absolutely an elite skater with a long, fluid and effortless stride. His offensive toolbox is raw but packed with everything you need while his defensive ability is also coming along. I do have lingering questions about his general hockey sense at times but considering the tough minutes he faced in Prince Albert this year, he didn’t do too bad.

Elite Prospects, Curtis Joe

A heads-up defenseman who can really take a beating and dish it out as well. Built like a tank; grueling play doesn’t phase him. Calm, collected, and poised with the puck; great body and stick positioning without the puck. Reliable at both ends of the ice and can be trusted with a hefty amount of ice time. All-in-all, a defenseman who strives to be difficult to play against, consistently, with and without the puck.

What BSN Avalanche Sees

Guhle is very poised with the puck, which is probably my favorite attribute about him. That or his speed, which really surprises you. His skating allows him to consistently exit the defensive zone, and he loves skating the puck through the neutral zone. I don’t like going overboard with comparisons, but at times he is Tyson Barrie-esque when he carries the puck up the ice.

He couples his excellent skating and elusive agility with strong passing and a willingness to make aggressive passes up the ice. Overall, I’d say zone-exits are a strength for Guhle, and he has the potential to really ride this asset to the NHL.

Offensively, he loves to get involved in the play. Guhle always is looking to cheat up the ice when the puck is on his off-side, so he can facilitate rushes going the other way. I love this aggressive mindset, but he’ll need to pick and choose his battles a little more carefully going forward. His style and mindset creates a lot of odd-man rushes, but isn’t overly selective as to which way they will be going.

My biggest gripe with Guhle is I think he has massive episodes of tunnel vision. I first noticed this with his passes, where he’d try to force the puck somewhere when a play wasn’t there. I already mentioned his aggressiveness getting the puck out of the zone and up ice, which I do appreciate, but improving decision making will clean up his game quite a bit.

I love when Guhle decides to put his head down, and just skate the puck out of the d-zone. It’s very effective for him, but once he hits the neutral zone, he tends not to look up, which goes back to the tunnel vision. He’s the type of guy who gets you from point-A to point-B, but I get the sense he’s missing a lot of scenery and playmaking potential along the way. I also think at times he trusts his legs a lot more than he trusts his passing.

Defensively, Guhle was relied upon heavily by Prince Albert, and he did an admirable job. I don’t think his skill-set pegs him as a shut-down type defender, but more of a puck-mover and transition game facilitator. That said, he does a lot of things well in the defensive zone. He’s a big body, isn’t afraid to play physical, and is very active in trying to take away passing lanes.

I liked Guhle a lot in my viewings. He’s raw, but he has a lot of very desirable skills in his repertoire. Given some seasoning and proper coaching, he could be a very strong defenseman in the NHL in a few years.

Highlights

Brendan Guhle is number four in white. You’ll see some good and some bad from him in this highlight reel.

NHL Potential

Guhle’s speed and puck-moving ability give him a lot of upside, depending on how well he is able to round out the rest of his game. He has a very smooth and pretty style, and I could see him being a top-four NHL defenseman pretty easily down the line.

The fact that he is six-foot-two further boosts his potential, as he will be able to hold up against all but the biggest of forwards once he bulks up. I agree with Cody Nickolet on his hockey sense being an area that could ultimately hold him back.

Expected Draft Position

Draft ratings peg Guhle as a third-round or early four-round guy, but I think he has some traits that might get a team to jump on him much earlier than his average ratings.

The NHL just keeps getting faster, and a bigger guy with wheels like Guhle makes it easy to fantasize when you contemplate having him on your blue-line. Some may point to the Raiders’ inept offense as a limiting factor in Guhle’s point-production as well. He shows offensive potential, even if his numbers don’t jump off the page.

That said, I’ll predict him as a third-round pick. Hockey sense and decision making are just as important as anything these days in the NHL, and Guhle has some red flags in those areas.

How Would Guhle Fit in the Avalanche Organization?

Guhle would join a growing force of left-handed D in the Avalanche system, with Chris Bigras, Mason Geertsen, and Duncan Siemens at the head of the class. Defensive depth, especially with the raw abilities of Guhle are always attractive considerations on draft day.

Further supplementing the defensive prospect pool only enhances the odds that some of those guys will be impact NHLers, and with the glaring deficiency on the blue-line in Denver, Guhle would be a nice add to the mix.

I really like his ability to get the puck out of his zone, and his skating ability is refreshing relative to the Nate Guenin and Brad Stuarts of the world. Guhle really is prototypical, in a lot of ways, of defenseman I think NHL teams should be targeting in the draft. As with any mid-round defensive prospect, he needs a few years to develop — with a focus on hockey sense during that process, Guhle could turn into a player that causes 29 other GMs to wonder why they passed on him.