Coyotes prospects Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther shine in World Junior Championships

Arizona Coyotes prospects Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther have been the talk of the town during the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships held in Nova Scotia.

Guenther helped Team Canada earn the gold medal behind a two-goal performance in the championship including the game-winner in overtime vs. the Czech Republic.

"This is gotta be the best feeling ever"

Dylan Guenther on scoring the golden goal.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/yGEVkddMJz

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 6, 2023

Guenther, the No. 9 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has recorded three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 21 games played over his rookie campaign with the Coyotes this year.

He had seven goals (tied for second most) and three assists for 10 points in seven games for the sixth most points in the tournament.

Cooley represented Team USA and also took the tournament’s second-highest scoring total with seven goals, only behind the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft Connor Bedard who had nine. This included a hat trick performance for Cooley over Germany.

Logan Cooley with the net-front presence and a hat trick 👏 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/hYtun66ADG

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) January 2, 2023

He finished with seven assists, totaling 14 points over the seven games in the tournament. Team USA finished with the bronze medal after an 8-7 overtime win over Sweden, a game Cooley also scored in.

Cooley, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 Draft, played 19 games with the Minnesota Golden Gophers this season where he scored 10 goals and notched 15 assists for 25 points over only 19 games.

The two prospects squared off with each other on Wednesday in the semifinal of the tournament with both players getting the starting nod for their respective teams.

Cooley scored the first goal of the contest in which the USA led 2-0 after the first period, but Canada ultimately took the win, 6-2.

EXTRA PERIOD

Cooley’s 14 points were the sixth-most all time in a single tournament for an American player, according to FloHockey’s Chris Peters.