Before flipping Bowen Byram for the then Buffalo Sabre Casey Middelstadt during the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, they almost acquired former Philadelphia Flyer, now Anaheim Duck, Cutter Gauthier
The Colorado Avalanche's 2024 Trade Deadline was one to forget. The team had a bunch of holes that needed fixing, and management did their best to patch them up, but in the long run, they just reappeared. From the desperate need for a second-line center, to bottom-six production, to better play from their defensemen. The Avalanche addressed all those issues, but it hurt them in the long run.
Though the biggest trades we find out are ones that either didn't happen or were close to happening, but time ran out, look at the recent Maple Leafs news with Matthew Knies and the Montreal Canadiens. This time, for the Avalanche, it could have been a potential star winger in the making, but they decided to pass on it to address other needs.
A Potential Top-Six Winger For The Future
Initially reported by Sportsnet and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on his “32 Thoughts: The Podcast,” the Flyers were shopping Cutter Gauthier. General Manager Danny Brière asked the Avalanche about Bowen Byram, but the Avalanche weren’t too keen on moving him at that time.
“I think Philly did ask about Bowen Byram and I just think Colorado wasn’t going there,” Friedman said. “I suspect Colorado’s answer was ‘We are not doing this 1-for-1, it’s got to be more than Gauthier for Byram.”
Now, another NHL insider, Frank Seravalli, brought this topic up again on this recent podcast, “Frankly Hockey”
"Here’s one trade that never happened: the Avalanche and Flyers were talking about Cutter Gauthier when they had to move him. The Flyers were looking for Bowen Byram for Cutter Gauthier straight-up. The Avalanche said, “well if you want Bowen Byram, you need to add a third in order to make that happen."
Instead of making the trade, the Avalanche pivoted to a need for a center and went with Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres in a one-for-one deal.
The Pros And Cons Of Not Making The Trade.
Looking back at the trades and now the news, the Avalanche could have had Gauthier, for it doesn't look great for them. Middelstadt was a need for the team after Nazem Kadri left for the Calgary Flames in free agency, after winning the Stanley Cup.
He was coming off his best two seasons with the Sabers, and the Avalanche saw the right time to move on from Byram, who was not performing as well as he could have been, but Middelstat's production got worse while Byram's improved.
Obviously, the Avalanche don’t “care” about draft picks if it means acquiring players helping them win a Stanley Cup. Still, when what's supposed to be your new second-line center, who's in his mid-20s, plays 81 games and only scores 15 goals and 29 assists for 44 points before being shipped off at the next trade deadline, and you have to pay more to give him up, it's not a good look.
Though, as much as recency bias goes with how well the Anaheim Ducks performed this season with Gauthiers' help, what are the chances that we see the same production from him this season?
Remember, when Byram was traded for Mittelstadt, Gauthier wasn’t in the league yet; he made his debut on April 18, 2024, after his NCAA season with Boston College ended. So the chances of the Avalanche seeing Gauthier at all that season were very low, if not at all, as the Ducks, who were eliminated from the playoffs by then, saw a chance to bring him on right away.
He would play his full season next year, playing all 82 games and scoring 20 goals and 24 assists for 40 points, before he would blow up this past season, scoring 41 goals and 28 assists for 69 points, 11 of those goals coming from the power play. So yes, the Avalanche would have loved that level of production from him, but would he have gotten the same level of production and role responsibility on a Stanley Cup team?
The Ducks are a rebuilding team with a lot of youth, which has given Gauthier a significant role in the top six alongside prospects like Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke, with added support from their veterans. Though the Avalanche top-six, with Landeskog back, was pretty full. While you could have moved Arturri Lehkonen, Landeskog, Kadri, or someone else down the lineup, how long would that position last?
Gauthier is 22 years old. While he did score a lot, he wasn’t perfect and made some defensive mistakes. If that was him on the Avalanche, what stopped Jared Bednar from moving him back down the lineup or bringing in someone like Joel Kiviranta in a bottom-six role and taking him out of the lineup?
We saw it this season with younger guys like Gavin Brindley, who, when he was hot and performing well, got top-six minutes, but when the rest of the lineup started to get healthy, he was pushed down the line. He then started to produce less; his production dropped off, and he was ultimately taken out of the lineup and sent down to the Colorado Eagles in the AHL.
Ultimately, the Avalanche should be happy with the production and growth Brindley has shown. Still, it all comes back to this: if the Avalanche made that trade for Gauthier, would he be putting up the same numbers we saw this past season?
The Avalanche wanted Middelstadt to be someone he wasn't, and that makes the trade hurt worse. The Ducks now get a promising piece for their future, while the Avalanche, who did end up with their old center in Kadri, could have had that same winger on his line to help elevate his play.
