Cutter Gauthier Went From A Prized-Piece Of The Philadelphia Flyers Rebuild To Persona Non Grata In Hours

It's incredible how quickly things publically changed between the Philadelphia Flyers and prospect Cutter Gauthier.

In just a few hours, Gauthier went from being one of the most anticipated players drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the last decade to guaranteeing himself massive boos when he first hits the ice at the Wells Fargo Center.

Folks, we've got some serious hockey drama... and it's something else.

Monday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins paid a visit to Philadelphia. While that's one of the league's better rivalries, and there was the usual level of scrappiness involved in the Penguins' 4-1 win, the real drama was happening off the ice.

Despite being in the hunt for a playoff spot this season, the Flyers are at the start of a rebuild. Gauthier is one central piece of that rebuild that began when former Flyers Daniel Briere and Keith Jones took over as general manager and president late last season.

The 5th-overall pick in 2022 has had fans twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of his arrival. This was especially true after a stellar showing at the 2024 World Junior Championship.

That's why fans were left stunned by the news — which broke just as the game against Pittsburgh was getting started — that the Flyers had traded Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025.

After The Gauthier Trade Was Announced, That's When Things Got Wild

It was a headscratcher at first but it didn't take long to learn that this move was necessary. Insider Elliotte Friedman was one of the first to report that the Flyers' hand had been forced.

Sure enough, both Briere and Jones fielded questions during the Flyers-Penguins game to confirm that that was the case.

Briere revealed that despite Gauthier saying he wanted to be a Flyer before the team selected him in 2022, he arrived back from the IIHF World Championships in May and informed the team that he had changed his mind. This also led to the 19-year-old not attending the team's training camp over the summer.

"You know, and the reason why we didn't want to say anything was not to hide anything from our great fans, it was to try to protect the kid, Briere said. "We were hoping that at some point he would change his mind."

Maybe Gauthier didn't want to be on a "rebuilding" team — which, reality check, is often the case for a high pick like he was; you don't often go No. 5 and wind up with a Cup contender — the Flyers strong start in 2023-24 didn't lead him to change his mind.

"You know, but when we realized that they refuse to talk to us now it's been months, and he didn't want to be a Flyer or didn't want to be in Philadelphia, It was time to make it happen," Briere said.

He added that with Drysdale's name coming up in talks, that especially sweetened the deal.

Cutter Gauthier was a key part of the Team USA squad that won gold at the 2024 World Junior Championship. (Photo by ADAM IHSE/TT/TT News Agency/TT NYHETSBYRÅN/AFP via Getty Images)

It's Still Unclear What Made Gauthier Not Want To Play For The Flyers

It's not the first time a highly-touted player has said they didn't want to play for a team, and it won't be the last. A somewhat similar situation is how the Flyers wound up with franchise great Eric Lindros.

However, Lindros warned the Quebec Nordiques that he wouldn't play for them if they drafted him. They did anyway, so he held out and forced the trade to the Flyers in exchange for several players (including Peter Forsberg and Ron Hextall), draft picks, and cash.

There's still no clear reason why Gauthier wanted nothing to do with the Flyers. However, that didn't stop rumors from bouncing around the internet.

One rumor — floated by reporter Anthony SanFilippo — was that ex-Flyer and Boston College alum Kevin Hayes had convinced Gauthier not to go to Philly. According to Spittin' Chiclets' Ryan Whitney, Hayes denies this.

Whitney's fellow SPittin' Chiclets co-host, Rear Admiral, tweeted another reason. He reported that Gauthier didn't want to play for the Flyers because of a "rookie GM" and "coaching style."

Well, speaking of which, what did head coach John Tortorella have to say about this move? He made it clear that he is definitely not a big Cutter Gauthier guy.

"Then we don't want ya," Tortorella said when asked about Gauthier not wanting to play on Broad Street. "I don't know Cutter from a hole in the wall, so I'm not too interested in talking about him. I'm more interested in talking about Jamie.

Defenceman Jamie Drysdale will see instant action on the Flyers' anemic powerplay. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)

Despite The Drama, Both Teams Could See Gains From This Trade

The knee-jerk reaction for most fans was shock. Schock that Gauthier had been shipped out of the organization before he had even arrived. However, once that initial shock had worn off, it became clear that the Briere and worked a heck of a deal.

Tortorella's excitement about 21-year-old Drysdale stems from the fact that he's regarded as a dynamic, puck-moving defenceman. Additionally, he's a right-handed shot. Tortorella said that he planned on adding Drysdale to one of the Flyers powerplay units.

That's big because both of units could use a considerable kick in the pants.

The Flyers are 32nd in the league in powerplay percentage. Just how bad is it? Well, for reference the Flyers have just 14 PPGs this season. They've got 10 goals from their penalty kill units which are currently second in the league.

Those penalty kill stats (or power kill, as it has become known) are impressive, but the powerplay issues needed addressing. The addition of Drysdale could do that... if he stays healthy. He missed a huge stretch of games over the last two seasons with a shoulder injury.

Drysdale was already at Flyers practice on Tuesday morning.

Expect him in the lineup on Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

As for the Ducks, Gauthier (assuming he doesn't go back to school and let his draft rights expire to test free agency) will join an impressive young Ducks core which includes fellow Americans Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry as well as Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson.

Maybe things will work out for both sides, but we won't soon be forgetting one of the wilder Monday nights this NHL season.

Side note: We should've known from the start that this kid would never work out in Philly:

Should've seen this one coming. At least Matvei Michkov is on the way...

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle