January 08, 2024
Cutter Gauthier is no longer in the Flyers' plans.
Shortly after the puck dropped on the club's Monday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the organization announced they had traded their top forward prospect to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
This is a major shocker as Gauthier was just coming off of a run at the World Junior Championship where he won gold with Team USA – getting named the tournament's top forward in the process – and was expected to make his jump over to the NHL later this year after he finished the collegiate season with Boston College.
The Flyers selected Gauthier at No. 5 overall in the 2022 draft, and with a skill set highlighted by a lightning-quick shot, he was lined up to be a focal point of the organization's long-term plans for a rebuild.
The 19-year old, however, opted to stay at Boston College for his sophomore year after last season and elected not to attend the Flyers' development camp in the summer – a move that, at the time, was curious, but not seen as any massive cause for concern.
But now in hindsight, it was a clear sign that something had gone wrong, and when Flyers general manager Danny Brière met with the media during the first intermission Monday night, he confirmed that the situation had been quietly brewing in the background for months.
"We were hoping that at some point he would change his mind," Brière said. "I mean, he had already changed his mind. He looked at us at the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and maybe a few months later told us that he didn't want to be a Flyer, didn't want to play for the Flyers.
"So in our mind, at first, we said we have to protect him, because if he changes his mind again and it's out there that he doesn't want to play, it's gonna be tough for him to put the uniform on. But when we realized – they refuse to talk to us now. It's been months, and he didn't want to be a Flyer, didn't want to be in Philadelphia, it was time to make [a trade] happen."
The Flyers were informed by Gauthier's camp that he was no longer interested in playing for the organization following his appearance at the IIHF World Championship back in May, Brière explained, and said he didn't know the reason, that the club was never given an answer.
Other teams began finding out about the situation shortly after in the summer, Brière continued, and that's when calls and discussions on potential deals started being had.
Brière added that he and president of hockey operations Keith Jones were in Sweden during World Juniors over the holidays to make one last effort to touch base with Gauthier's camp, but it was a no go.
"Nothing happened," Brière said. "We tried to, but they would not engage as far as a reason why. We just wanted to be able to present our case. Tell him what we were doing here, where this organization is going. Unfortunately, we never got the chance."
Gauthier's tournament-best performance at the World Juniors, however, did put his value at a major high, which led the Flyers to pull the trigger on a deal now, Brière said.
Drysdale is a right-handed shooting defenseman who the Ducks picked up with the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft as a rebuilding group themselves.
The 21-year old comes NHL ready and as a smooth skater with all the makings of a top-pairing blueliner, but does so having missed nearly all of last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder suffered back in October 2022, and then a lower-body injury that kept him out of Anaheim's lineup until late December.
Since returning, however, he's put up a goal and two assists while skating an average of 21:22 across eight games, and will now be joining a Flyers defensive corps that has looked dramatically improved compared to the previous two seasons.
Brière added that he's confident in Drysdale's long-term health and hopes he'll bloom into a top-pairing defenseman for the club down the line.
As for Gauthier's change of heart about playing for the Flyers, it's stunning and upfront, somewhat worrying.
This past summer's No. 7 overall pick Matvei Michkov is now left as the only potential game-changing forward prospect in the farm system, and with the rebuilding Flyers playing way above expectations right now, they're positioning themselves out of a high pick and another good chance at one at the 2024 draft.
Plus, there's the idea that Gauthier's refusal to play for the Flyers sets a precedent as a club to stay away from, but Brière quickly dispelled that notion.
"Not all, especially in the direction we're going in," Brière said. "Especially with everything that's being done here. It's a first-class organization. I have no doubt that that's not the case."
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