Loaned to Kärpät in Liiga. Surprising that he didn't go back to SHL.
Some people thought that he might be a steal at the time of the draft, but his point totals don't seem to be anything special so far (18 points in 31 games in AHL last season).
Luleå just let Patrik Zdrahal go as those Gunler-to-Sweden rumors began circulating, which seemed awfully coincidental. However, our GMs shot down those rumors, citing that the last time he was here he wanted out.
Gunler emerged as a very tantalizing prospect for us, tearing up the J20 league and IIRC scoring thrice in his first five games in the SHL. Forever a team lacking consistent goal scorers, those were exciting times.
He didn’t really build on early success though. Part of it was Luleå becoming pretty stacked, so it was hard to afford him the ice time he perhaps needed, but he didn’t really get things done with his opportunities. You saw the talent: good shot, good passing, but his overall game wasn’t SHL ready, he looked lost/was floating without the puck. It was difficult motivating him moving up the lineup, and even late in games we were winning when he got a few chances, he struggled to prove his point.
Eventually Luleå agreed to loan him to Brynäs, who were able to promise him PP ice time and I thought it was a good idea. Luleå was in championship mode, Brynäs struggled and grasped for depth scoring. Little did we know, Gunler immediately signed with them for another year, which apparently came as news for Luleå as well, so I think there may be some bad blood there.
At any rate, while he produced at a decent clip that following season, I didn’t see much improvement on the side of the game where he had flaws. He’s had another year in the AHL, I’m sure teams have followed his development and I hope he’s doing well, but my prevailing read on Gunler is that he’s a PP specialist who needs to find a place where they can afford him a regular shift. For Luleå at least, that would risk being at the expense of more deserving/well rounded players.
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