The NCAA Hockey East Conference announced the finalists for the conference's Player of the Year Award. Ducks prospect Cutter Gauthier joins Macklin Celebrini and Ryan Ufko as 2023-24's finalists.
The NCAA’s Hockey East Conference has announced three finalists for their Player of the Year Award. Boston College forward and Anaheim Ducks top prospect, Cutter Gauthier (20), joins forward Macklin Celebrini and defenseman Ryan Ufko as the finalists.
In his sophomore season, Gauthier is leading the NCAA in goals with 32 in 35 games and is fifth in points with 52.
Gauthier’s Boston College team sits at the top of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine’s National Rankings. It could be argued Hockey East is the best conference in the nation as five Hockey East teams find themselves in the top 20 (Boston College, Boston University, Maine, Massachusetts, and Providence).
Cutter Gauthier: A Top-Five NHL Prospect
Gauthier’s sophomore season at BC has been part of an impressive 12 months of hockey for the young 6-foot-2 forward. In May of 2023, Gauthier represented the United States in Finland for the World Championship when he scored seven goals and two assists in ten games as his team lost in overtime of the Bronze Medal game. He represented his country again at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Sweden. This time, his team USA took home the gold and he co-led the tournament in scoring as he tallied two goals and ten assists in seven games.
Next on the docket for Gauthier and the Boston College Eagles will be the Hockey East Tournament semi-finals where they will take on Ryan Ufko’s Massachusetts on Friday, March 22. If they should win, the Championship game will be played on Saturday, March 23.
Selection for the 16-team NCAA Hockey Tournament will be held on Sunday, March 24 and the first games will be held on March 28. The Championship game is scheduled for Saturday, April 13.
Anaheim Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek has stated he is in contact with Gauthier and his camp and his intention is to sign him to his ELC when his NCAA season concludes and get him in the Ducks’ lineup.
The earliest possible date Gauthier can sign would be March 28 if Boston College were to be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the first round. The latest possible date would be if BC plays in the Championship game on April 13. If they do make it that far, Gauthier would only play one game for the Ducks in 2023-24: their season finale vs the Golden Knights in Vegas on April 18.
The addition of Cutter Gauthier is seemingly the addition of a skillset that has eluded the Anaheim Ducks since Corey Perry was in his prime: a player who could provide goal-scoring at the drop of a hat. He has never found a shot he didn’t like or an angle he didn’t think he could score from. He supports and battles well around the puck and can find soft ice away from it to make himself available as a dangerous option. Theoretically, he is the ideal complement for players like Trevor Zegras and/or Leo Carlsson.
The excitement and hype around Cutter Gauthier’s Ducks debut is palpable. It provides a ray of hope down a tough stretch of the 2023-24 season as it crawls toward the finish line.
Gauthier’s teammate, Will Smith, leads the NCAA in points and has driven the country’s top line. It would be understandable to view this as a snub, but it only accentuates the strength and talent in the conference and the NCAA.
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