The Philadelphia Flyers first-rounder returns to Boston College with some great international experience under his belt - and more to come.
The Philadelphia Flyers are going through a rebuild right now and one of the marquee players in their pipeline is center Cutter Gauthier. The 2022 first-rounder was highly acclaimed coming out of the U.S. NTDP and he backed up that hype by leading Boston College in scoring as a freshman, notching 37 points in 32 games. With a great combination of size, speed and shooting prowess, Gauthier is a weapon already and he's still developing his game.
This summer, Gauthier participated in USA Hockey's World Junior Summer Showcase, a training camp/exhibition series that saw the Americans host U20 national teams from Sweden and Finland in Michigan. Gauthier, who was a key piece of Team USA's bronze-medal squad at the 2023 world juniors in Halifax, will obviously be leaned on even further when the holiday classic shifts scenes to Gothenburg, Sweden this season. But the teenager also got some incredible experience when he was invited to play at the men's World Championship in Finland and Latvia, where the Americans lost bronze in overtime to the upstart Latvians.
Despite the loss, Gauthier was very appreciative of the opportunity.
"It was super-surreal," he said. "Getting to play with NHL players and pros who have been in the league for many years — the league you're striving to be in — it's cool to take little things away from their game, whether it's on or off the ice. Overall, it was a great experience."
One player that Gauthier honed in on was Buffalo Sabres right winger Alex Tuch, the veteran who is also an NTDP alum.
"He's got a high compete level and he's a great guy off the ice," Gauthier said. "You don't make it too far if you're a bad dude and he was super-welcoming from Day 1. And it shows on the ice how talented he is. It was pretty cool asking him questions."
While Gauthier is slated to play for Boston College again this season, the chance to test his mettle against the pros was a good lesson and he earned his keep with seven goals and nine points in ten games, ranking him among Team USA's top scorers.
"The faster I can get adjusted, the better," he said. "Whether it's backchecking harder or making a quicker pass, just all the little things to acclimate myself to that higher standard."
After tallying 10 points in seven games at last season's world juniors, Gauthier will be one to watch for the Americans again in Gothenburg, where Team USA is looking like an early gold medal favorite.
"He's got a great pedigree, he had a really good men's worlds and he's a mature young man," said new world junior coach David Carle. "From what I can see, he wants to be a difference-maker and we expect him to make a big impact for us."
While Team USA has the opportunity to bring back returnees such as Gauthier, Lane Hutson (MTL) and Rutger McGroarty (WPG) among others, it will also be interesting to see who the new kids are on the national squad. A trio of stars from last year's NTDP are front and center in that respect, and it just so happens all three will be joining Gauther at Boston College this fall: Will Smith (SJ), Ryan Leonard (WSH) and Gabe Perreault (NYR).
All three went in the first round of the 2023 draft after ripping it up for 'The Program' and they headlined a very strong recruiting class for Gauthier's Eagles.
"I definitely kept my eye on them," Gauthier said. "I saw that top line dominate at the world U18s over in Switzerland and kept in touch with them through the combine and the draft. They were asking me questions since I went through it not long ago so I'm trying to be a bit of a mentor for them, a shoulder to lean on."
Boston College is coming off a middling campaign that saw the Eagles finish eighth in their conference, so it will be intriguing to see what the team can do with Gauthier and the new kids on the same squad. Based on how well he played as a freshman, Gauthier probably could have turned pro in the spring and taken his shot at a roster spot in Philly this fall, but the youngster decided to stick by his school.
"That was definitely in the back of my mind after the second half last year, but I committed to going back for Year 2 and I'm a man of my word," he said. "So that's what's going to happen."
That's great news for the Eagles and Team USA's world junior squad - not so good news for anyone who has to face Gauthier along the way.