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Utah Hockey Club: What Makes Dylan Guenther And Logan Cooley So Talented?

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1 year ago

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Utah Hockey Club: What Makes Dylan Guenther And Logan Cooley So Talented?


SALT LAKE CITY – It’s no secret that Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley have taken their game to a whole new level this season for the Utah Hockey Club. In 29 games, Guenther currently leads the team in points with 28 while Cooley is in third with 24.

So, what is it that makes these two players so talented? It’s a collection of special individual skillsets, an ever-developing chemistry between them and a hunger to get better every day.

The game is slowing down for Utah’s Logan Cooley

If you pay close attention to Cooley for just a few minutes, it’s obvious that he’s a special player with incredible potential.

Given his blazing speed, phenomenal puck handling skills, elite creativity and remarkable vision, Cooley has been all over the ice and elevated his game to a new level.

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Three Highs, Three Lows For Utah Hockey Club After 25 Games

“It’s been a consistent improvement for him,” head coach Andre Tourigny said. “He’s been good since day one but he’s progressing all the time. He’s extremely competitive. Cool’s is the kind of guy who is mad after two-point night because he could have four. Cool’s satisfaction is not really something we see often. I’m not saying that in a bad way…he’s always a guy who wants more…he has that DNA.”

Looking back at last season, Cooley finished the year with 20 goals and 24 assists (44 points) as he averaged .53 points per game.

Through only 29 games thus far, he is averaging .82 points per game and is on pace to finish with 68 points, up 54 percent from last season.

According to Cooley, part of the reason for his success is that the game is really slowing down for him.

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“For sure. Just from last year too. Obviously, when you first come into the league, it’s super-fast and you just try to find a way to play in this league. This year, I think it’s slowed down a lot and allows me to make more plays and see the game differently,” Cooley said.

Cooley is clearly a special player and possesses such a well-balanced overall game. He’s scoring, orchestrating, getting to the net, finding his teammates, coordinating zone traffic and helping out defensively.

The most exciting news? He’s only 20 years old and is hungry to keep improving.

“I don’t want to set any limits,” Cooley said. “For us, we’re just trying to build each and every day. Become the players we want to be and we’re still young. This is only our second years in the league. We’re still learning a lot and trying to build off each game, each practice, and just try to get better each day.”

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Dylan Guenther is on track to become an NHL superstar

In just his first full season in the NHL, 21-year-old Dylan Guenther has been a merciless offensive monster as he currently leads the Utah Hockey Club in goals (12) and points (28).

Additionally, he also leads the team in power play goals/points (5), multi-point games (8), multi-goal games (4) and is tied with Clayton Keller for the most three-point games (2).

The Hat Trick: Dylan Guenther Scores Twice As Utah Hockey Club Dominate Colorado Avalanche

As for last season, Guenther finished with 18 goals and 17 assists (35 points) in 45 appearances. Obviously, he’ll play nearly twice as many games in 2024-25, but as of right now he’s averaging .96 points per game, up from .77 last year.

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Elite players find ways to be effective despite drawing a plethora of attention from the opposition. Not only is Guenther an elite sniper, but he’s also assisting his teammates on a consistent basis.

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“When I get it, I want to look to attack and shoot,” Guenther said. “But, just making sure I’m creating motion and finding ways to make the power play successful.”

After experiencing a cold streak earlier in the season, No. 11 has made a relentless effort to find open space and generate motion. The results? Lots of goals for the Utah Hockey Club.

Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther are elevating Utah to new heights

As Guenther and Cooley have both taken significant strides in their game this season, the team’s potential has been elevated as a direct result.

With five wins in their last eight games and two additional points from overtime losses to Edmonton and Minnesota, Utah currently has 31 points which places them well in the wild card race.

“We’re better this year. We’re a better team. We’re trying to build & improve & I think that we’ve done that. Even when we weren’t getting the wins, it felt like we were playing pretty well. So, just focusing on the process,” Guenther explained.

After hitting reset four years ago and rebuilding primarily through the draft, the Utah Hockey Club has clearly struck gold with these two young players.

If they can continue developing and producing like they have, Cooley and Guenther could become superstars and will bring a lot of success to Salt Lake City.

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Utah Hockey Schedule

The Utah Hockey Club will now travel to San Jose to face the Sharks on Saturday night. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule. 

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

Take us with you, wherever you go.

Download the new & improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. You can stream live radio, video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams.





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Utah

Prop 4 repeal effort loses another Senate district and — so far — 10,500 backers

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9 hours ago

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April 8, 2026

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Prop 4 repeal effort loses another Senate district and — so far — 10,500 backers


After failing to make the ballot, the loss of SD12 adds to the margin of defeat for a push to overturn Utah’s gerrymandering ban.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign at the site of signature gathering to repeal Prop 4 at Linda Vista Park in Syracuse on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.



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Kratom company sues over Utah’s new law limiting sales of the compound

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21 hours ago

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April 8, 2026

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Kratom company sues over Utah’s new law limiting sales of the compound


SALT LAKE CITY — An Oklahoma-based kratom manufacturer is suing over Utah’s new law limiting sales of the compound, saying it could cost the company more than $10 million when it takes effect next month.

Botanic Tonics LLC manufacturers, distributes and sells a dietary supplement made of kratom and noble kava root known as “feel free,” according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on March 31. The company said SB45, which lawmakers passed in the recent legislative session, would prohibit it and three other companies from selling products at more than 300 retail locations statewide.

“Immediate projected losses to plaintiffs due to the statute’s ban on combination kratom dietary supplements exceed $10,704,428,” the complaints states. “To comply with the statute, plaintiffs have notified their direct to store distributors that all kratom leaf products combined with any other ingredient must be removed from store shelves and not made available for sale as of May 6, 2026, unless action is taken by this court to enjoin implementation of the statute.”

It went on to say that the law “denies access to such products for which there is clinical trial data establishing that they do not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.”

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The lawsuit was filed against Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and several state officials: Kelly Pherson, commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food; Amber Brown, deputy commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food; and Bradon Forsyth, director of the Utah Specialized Product Division.

Botanic Tonics filed the suit in conjunction with the Kratom Coalition Inc., asking a judge to declare Utah’s limits on kratom sales unconstitutional and block the state from enforcing it through a preliminary injunction. The company sued Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food in a separate state court last year, but that complaint was eventually dismissed.

Kratom comes from a tropical tree and is used by some people for pain management. Kratom products have been sold in retail shops and include powders, gummies, teas and energy drinks.

The substance has been called “gas station heroin” because it can act on the same receptors in the brain that opioids do. Synthetic products derived from kratom can lead to overdose.

SB45 takes effect May 6 and will only allow for the sale of pure leaf kratom in Utah, and only in smoke shops and similar stores. It also gives manufacturers one year to stop producing anything other than pure kratom leaf in the state.

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The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said the law was meant to protect Utahns from the product. He said based on an informal poll he took of gas station clerks, “feel free” is one of the most popular kratom products sold in Utah, and called the product “extremely potent, extremely addictive.”

“I’m not worried about it being struck down,” he said of the law. “And the lawsuit doesn’t surprise me. This company has been very aggressive. They’ve sued the state in the past. Ultimately that case was dismissed, but I am confident in our case.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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Legion Health AI Cleared to Provide Faster Refills for Utah Patients | PYMNTS.com

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1 day ago

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April 7, 2026

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Legion Health AI Cleared to Provide Faster Refills for Utah Patients | PYMNTS.com


Utah regulators have cleared Y Combinator-backed Legion Health to let its artificial intelligence (AI) renew certain psychiatric prescriptions without a doctor signing off each time, The Verge reported on Friday (April 3). The $19-a-month pilot runs for a year and covers non-controlled, non-benzodiazepine maintenance medications.

Renewal, Not New Prescribing

Utah started testing AI for prescription refills without physician signoff in January, as PYMNTS reported at the time. The state partnered with startup Doctronic to cover common chronic medications like statins and blood pressure drugs, spanning nearly 200 medications across primary care, according to Fierce Healthcare.

Legion’s scope is narrower, aimed squarely at mental health access. Most Utah counties are designated mental health provider shortage areas, leaving up to 500,000 residents without adequate behavioral care, according to the Utah Office of AI Policy.

The AI’s guardrails are tight. It cannot issue new prescriptions, adjust doses or handle controlled substances, benzodiazepines or antipsychotics. Patients must be stable and on an existing treatment plan with a licensed psychiatrist and must not have had a psychiatric hospitalization in the past year. Any signs of suicidality, mania, severe side effects or pregnancy trigger an immediate handoff to a human clinician, as detailed by the Utah Office of AI Policy.

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The oversight structure is phased. The first 250 renewals by the AI require physician review before reaching the pharmacy, with a minimum agreement rate of more 98% required to proceed.

The next 1,000 renewals are reviewed after the fact, requiring a greater-than-99% threshold before shifting to randomized monthly tests, the Utah Office of AI Policy stated. Legion is required to file monthly reports on accuracy, physician alignment and any adverse outcomes under the policy.

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The structure reflects Doctronic’s earlier mishaps. Within weeks of its launch, security researchers were able to push the system to triple a patient’s opioid dosage and generate misinformation about vaccines, as reported by The Verge.

The Access Case and Its Limits

State officials said the program would allow patients to get care “much more quickly and affordably,” freeing providers to focus on more complex cases, according to The Verge. Legion Co-founder and CEO Yash Patel described the pilot as “the beginning of something much bigger than refills.”

The demand for AI in healthcare is already there. More than 40 million people worldwide use ChatGPT daily for health-related queries, with about 70% happening outside clinic hours, as covered by PYMNTS.

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Stanford GSB research found that a customized AI system cut prescription near-misses by about 33% in a pharmacy setting, but only with tight domain constraints and human review at dispensing. Without those conditions, broader AI models produced error rates between 50% and 400% higher than existing systems.

Critics aren’t convinced the access argument holds. Brent Kious, a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, told The Verge the benefits of an AI refill system “may be overstated” and won’t reach the patients who need care most, since users must already be in treatment. He also warned of an “epidemic of over-treatment,” with patients staying on medications longer than necessary.

Utah’s 12-month pilot is designed to collect safety data to determine whether the model can expand to other states or tighten the limits regulators allow. Findings are due before the end of the year.



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