The New Unending Flyers thread

[zambonir]

And perhaps more importantly, all the press coverage around it locally predicted he will sign and take the ice for the Flyers this year, though the latter may only happen if they make the playoffs, or BC falters in their own post-season (they are the #1 team in the country and Frozen Four is actually the same weekend as the last two regular season NHL games. No regional in Allentown this year either though it's unlikely BC would have gone there anyway).

[bigegypt0417]

Flyers Trade Top Prospect Cutter Gauthier to Ducks for Jamie Drysdale, NHL Draft...

[zambonir]

Wow. Well, whoever was worried about him not signing was right after all. Wonder if something went wrong or if he just wanted to be somewhere else.

Sources say Cutter Gauthier informed #Flyers organization he did not want to play in Philadelphia.

— Frank Seravalli ( @frank_seravalli ) January 9, 2024

[phillychuck]

Gauthier clearly wanted no part of Philly and this team. Weird he would go to Anaheim, who at this point appears to be a less competitive team.

[zambonir]

Well, he still would have had limited say in the matter (and could still possibly not sign with the Ducks unless that was part of the deal). Seems like a fair return but still a big blow.

Imagine if things go south with Michkov still.

[zambonir]

So yeah clearly the Flyers did not want to address this publicly around his pre-season no-show. And then he refused to meet with them in Sweden too.

They could have held his rights for years, but clearly this team couldn't afford that kind of bad publicity/drama. Plus he'd be a wasted asset (or at least a declining value asset) during the stand-off.

Corey Pronman: The main sub-context of this deal is that Gauthier had indicated he did not want to sign with the Flyers months ago. The world juniors was the tipping point where it became clear that a trade may need to happen after they could not meet with him. GM Daniel Briere and AGM Brent Flahr were present in Gothenburg.

NHL trade grades: Ducks land Cutter Gauthier, Jamie Drysdale heads to Flyers

The Ducks get the best player of the two currently, but given the circumstances, Drysdale is still a very good long-term piece for the Flyers who lacked a top young defenseman of his caliber. He would for example rate ahead of defenseman Cam York on the team long-term. He just needs to stay healthy

It’s also worth noting that the manager who drafted Drysdale for the Ducks, Bob Murray, now consults for the Flyers, and so would have provided valuable input.

[bigegypt0417]

The second round pick will be pretty high so not a terrible return.

[phillychuck]

Return should be pretty high given Gauthier's draft status and recent international performance. Team that gets the best player in a trade usually wins the trade, and Gauthier is probably the best player. Drysdale can't stay healthy.

[Squire]

There should be NO reluctance to trade Walker and Seeler now.

[zambonir]

I hope there wasn't already.

But it would be funny if Drysdale was able to step into the line-up and actually made them better. He's still super-young and played 81 games the season before last, no reason to think he's a lost cause physically (I mean, we thought that about Coots this season too right?)

Obviously Jones and Briere aren't on the hook here, but still not a great look for Brent Flohr that he somehow missed this about the kid from the start. Was he afraid of Torts?

[zambonir]

Mr. Snider would be proud (not sure that's a good thing).

"You don't want to be a Flyer? You're not going to be a Flyer."

Flyers President of Hockey Ops, Keith Jones discusses the trade with the Ducks. pic.twitter.com/btUehFXsVO

— Sportsnet ( @Sportsnet ) January 9, 2024

[xogfog]

I hope Cutter Gauthier is a complete failure, ■■■■ him.

[zambonir]

Too bad they couldn't trade him to the Nordiques

[zambonir]

Speculative, of course.

That draft was in July 2022. Brière said that sometime between then and last May, when Gauthier was starring for Team USA. at the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship — he had seven goals in 10 games in that tournament — Gauthier decided that he didn’t want to play for the Flyers anymore. Brière and president Keith Jones came on board as the organization’s new leadership team that same month, May 2023, but a source with knowledge of the situation said Monday night that Gauthier had soured on the Flyers before Brière and Jones were hired.

So what changed? During a podcast interview in April 2023, just a month before, Gauthier said that he had been in touch with and “pretty close to” Kevin Hayes. A Boston College alumnus, Hayes of course had spent much of the 2022-23 season in John Tortorella’s doghouse before the Flyers traded him to the St. Louis Blues last June. When asked if Hayes might have spoken to Gauthier about Tortorella or the organization in a manner that would have turned Gauthier off about the Flyers, the source didn’t rule it out.

“Not sure,” the source said.

Trading Cutter Gauthier is the Flyers’ first big setback in their rebuild

[zambonir]

This is probably the best piece on all of it. Hayes denies ever saying a word (but lots of other details and theories too). Not paywalled.

The Cutter Gauthier trade: Breaking down the when, why, and how of the Flyers'...

Scott Hartnell thinks Gauthier would have signed last year and maybe wasn't happy the Flyers wanted him to spend another year in college.

[Aquapong]

Well that’s a shocker. I wonder who gets sent down, released, or traded? I imagine Staal will get released or traded for something minor. Unless Zamula hasn’t played well there’s no reason to keep playing time from him. Or it could just expedite a Walker or Seeler trade.

[Aquapong]

Drysdale gets an assist and a nice cheer from the crowd in his first game. Cutter who?

[zambonir]

Gauthier received death threats for not wanting to play for Flyers

Just when Philly phans were starting to be lovable again. Hayes got them too.

Obviously death threats are never acceptable but even the anger seems misplaced to me. Hardly the first player to do this. Some of them even wait and go back into the draft.

And there there was Lindros of course. Heck, Drysdale held out of training camp this year too (though that was for his next contract).

It sounds to me like the breaking point was that the Flyers didn't want to sign him (and pay/start his free agency clock) after just one year of college. It's just weird that wasn't clear at the time. But they probably got more from him now then they would have at the draft (in fact that's fairly certainly, since they were already shopping him then and wanted Montreal's pick).

That said, Gauthier is still declining to say what really happened (if you can read the story).

[Aquapong]

Dislike the kid, but death threats are stupid.

Then again, the “I’m getting death threats” trope seems to be the go to mantra for anyone unpopular to generate sympathy. Who cares about this kid enough for death threats?

[phillychuck]

Death threats on the internet don't seem to usually be very serious. People have gotten death threats on the 'net for being left handed.