Brendan Guhle is back with the Prince George Cougars.
After playing three games in four days for the Buffalo Sabres, the 19-year-old defenceman was sent back to the junior ranks Friday and was expected to arrive at Prince George airport at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
He should be in the Cougars lineup Saturday night when they take on the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second of a two-game weekend set at CN Centre.
Guhle received the news a week ago Friday he was being called up the the Sabres as an emergency replacement to fill in at defence when Josh Gorges suffered a foot injury Dec. 1, joining Dmitry Kulikov (back) and Zach Bogosian (knee) on the sidelines. Gorges and Kulikov have both recovered from their injuries and the NHL's collective bargaining agreement required the Sabres to send Guhle back to the WHL.
To say Guhle's week with the Sabres was a success would be an understatement. In three games paired with veteran Cody Franson, Guhle emerged as one of their top defencemen, averaging 16:21 of icetime as the Sabres went 1-1-1-0.
In his first game last Saturday in Buffalo against the Boston Bruins, Guhle came close to registering his first NHL point. His shot hit Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and the rebound went in off Sabres forward Brian Gionta, but the goal was waived off because Gionta kicked the puck in. Guhle had one more great scoring chance later in the game turned away by a blocker save from Rask. He led all Sabres defencemen in that game with four shots on goal.
“His mindset, his levelheadedness and his consistency and his mind frame is pretty remarkable for a young kid,” Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. “He came in pretty cool as a cucumber in how he played, in how he acted on the ice.
“When he made a mistake, he was pretty calm about bouncing back from a mistake or a missed play or whatnot. That’s a unique thing to see in a young player, and it’s a tough spot playing defense, it’s the hardest spot to play.”
The Sabres lost 2-1 to Boston and were defeated 3-2 in overtime Monday in Washington, then came back with a 6-5 win Tuesday at home over Edmonton.
“We were playing the Capitals and playing the Bruins and he was on the ice in Washington against (Alex) Ovechkin numerous times and had to defend against (him),” Bylsma said. “I think there was significant evidence and proof that he showed he can play at this level, showed he could play against those types of players.
“At the same time, he’s a 19-year-old kid. You know there’s going to be some ups and downs in his game over the course of his career. He did a pretty remarkable job of stepping in a tough situation, a tough spot and showing he could play and contribute.”
Guhle came close to making the Sabres roster in each of the last two training camps.
The Sabres picked Guhle in the second round (51st overall) in the 2015 draft. The Cougars acquired him in a trade from the Prince Albert Raiders Nov. 19 for 17-year-old defenceman Max Martin, 18-year-old winger Kolby Johnson, the Cougars' first-round bantam draft pick in 2018 and their third-round pick in 2019.
In four games with the Cougars, Guhle has scored three goals.
