Gauthier's Desired Exit From Philly is For the Best
The Cutter Gauthier trade from the Flyers to the Ducks on Monday has triggered an onslaught of hate from Flyers fans. However, this hate is unnecessary, writes Adam Proteau.
The Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers pulled off a surprise trade Monday, with the Ducks sending defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round draft pick in the 2025 NHL draft to the Flyers in exchange for forward Cutter Gauthier. But Gauthier has incurred the wrath of Flyers fans because he essentially wanted out before playing a single NHL game.
It is, of course, any player’s right to ask out of their current situation, regardless of the angry feelings it may stir up among the fans and media of the team that has to part ways with the best talent in any deal. Teams can also dig in their heels with players and force a stalemate, but in this instance, Gauthier’s desire did not leak out before the Ducks deal was made. For that reason, Philly was able to add some comparable young talent in the trade.
It’s unclear what the straw was that broke the camel’s back for Gauthier and the Flyers, but Gauthier is far from the only NHL-caliber talent who came to a crossroads with his team and requested to be dealt. The only difference here is that Gauthier is at the beginning of his NHL days; some fans believe a trade demand should only be available to a player who’s a veteran of hockey’s best league, but there have been many cases of young players asking to be moved by the team that drafted them.
Many of us have experienced issues over the years with our employer, and we have the right to look elsewhere to ply our trade. Gauthier works in show business, not the show of friendship, and while he’ll now forever be jeered when the Ducks travel to Philly, it’s best that he isn’t a problem child for the Flyers, and Gauthier and Drysdale can move on with their respective organizations. It’s a business-related predicament the two teams and two key players are in, and it’s been solved without too much tribalistic pain.
The Flyers will be using Drysdale at the NHL level right away, and they hope he’ll be a foundational piece on their back end. This could prove to be a great way to salvage what could’ve been a much uglier situation. Indeed, if Drysdale turns out to be a top-pairing D-man for Philadelphia, Flyers fans will be more than satisfied – and if Gauthier evolves into a difference-maker for Anaheim, both the Ducks and Flyers will be thrilled this deal went down.
The good news for Flyers fans is that Philly GM Daniel Briere showed he could get a significant price for Gauthier, who was Philadelphia’s fifth overall choice in 2022. Drysdale was considered by many to be central to Anaheim’s long-term plans on defense, but the emergence of rookie D-man Pavel Mintyukov may have made Drysdale expendable.
From a Flyers’ perspective, it may be a little bit worrisome they’re acquiring a cheap, young blueliner, as most teams don’t give up on those types of players. But a second-round pick from Anaheim has good value, and if Drysdale lives up to his billing as the sixth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Flyers GM Daniel Briere will be happy with the deal. You never want an unhappy camper in your long-term mix, and although Gauthier’s determination not to play for Philly backed Briere into a corner, he got a solid amount of talent in return for him.
Gauthier had a right to speak up to change employers, and the Flyers had a right to not move him until they were satisfied with the talent they’d be getting in a deal for him. Not every story has a happy ending for all teams and all fan bases at the pro hockey level, but there should be no bitterness toward Gauthier now that this trade has taken place. He won’t be the last player to force his team’s hand, and he certainly wasn’t the first.