The Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks shocked the hockey world with a trade Monday night that sent top forward prospect Cutter Gauthier from Philadelphia to Anaheim.
Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, is one of the most exciting prospects in hockey and is coming off a dominant gold-medal-winning performance for Team USA at the World Juniors.
However, after the trade was announced, it was reported that Gauthier had indicated to the Flyers that he didn’t intend to sign with the team. The 19-year-old is currently a sophomore at Boston College but is widely expected to turn pro following the NCAA season.
“He didn’t want to be a Flyer,” Flyers president Keith Jones confirmed in an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia during Monday’s game against the Penguins. “So we had to come up with a plan and, fortunately, we were able to execute on that plan.”
Flyers GM Daniel Briere said Gauthier was enthusiastic about joining the Flyers ahead of the 2022 draft but informed the team in the spring of 2023, after returning from the world championships, that he would not be signing with them.
Briere said at the time the Flyers chose to wait and see if Gauthier would reconsider. But after he and Jones travelled to Sweden to meet with Gauthier during the world juniors, and that meeting was declined, the Flyers decided to close the deal with Anaheim.
“It was a long time coming,” Briere said. “It’s been going on for a while. We tried to give him space. We tried to get in touch with him many times. He would not communicate … so at some point, we had to make a decision, and we thought with what happened just a few days ago, this was probably the time to get the highest value.”
In return for Gauthier, the Flyers get young defenceman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round draft pick in 2025. Drysdale was the sixth-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and although a shoulder injury derailed his career last season, he has 123 games of NHL experience over parts of four seasons.
“He’s going to be a big part of our team,” Briere said of Drysdale. “This is a really special player that we’re getting that’s going to be here for a long time.”
Flyers head coach John Tortorella said he would rather talk about the player coming to the Flyers than the one leaving when asked about it post-game.
“I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall,” Tortorella said. “I’m not too interested in talking about him. I’d rather talk about Jamie, he’s the guy coming here.”
“It’s such a good deal for us,” Tortorella added. “In the process that we’re at right now, it’s perfect timing.”