Gauthier went fifth overall, plays for the No. 1 college team in the country, and is a top performer in World Juniors.
The Philadelphia Flyers reached a season-high four-game losing streak against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 4. After playing some refreshingly aggressive and cohesive hockey and charging ahead with a 2-0 thanks to All-Star representative Travis Konecny, the team still managed to fall in overtime (none of the Flyers players that stepped up for the shootout scored).
Such a sustained run of terrible form has naturally left fans worried. Things genuinely looked to be turning around. Is the season still salvageable, and if so, how can the Flyers right their ship?
There's no one-size-fits-all solution, but there is an answer to the team's most pressing issues that's already in-house: Cutter Gauthier.
The name should be familiar to the Flyers faithful by now. (How could you forget a name like Cutter?) He's been lighting up the World Juniors Championship for Team USA with 12 points (the most ever scored by a Flyers prospect in the tournament), including a stunner of a goal to put the United States through to the gold medal game against Sweden.
Make no mistake: Gauthier isn't a player that only shows up for the big tournaments. He's proven to be a key player for his national team and currently for the No. 1 ranked Boston College Eagles. On all accounts, so many elements of his game could fill the gaps in this current struggling Flyers side.
Perhaps the most standout part of his playing is his shot. According to Karlis Zirnis, assistant coach of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that has witnessed Gauthier's skill crush his own team, "With the talent level he has, he still gets his shot off even when he doesn't have much time and space. That kind of makes him elite, makes him very intriguing for the next level...It's not just a hard shot, it's also an accurate shot. That was the very impressive part about him."
Another hallmark of Gauthier's playing style is just how hard he works and his willingness to provide whatever his team needs from him.
"He has definitely got the skill, but also what makes him a great player is that he's competitive," Zirnis attests. "He doesn't shy away, he's not just the razzle-dazzle and that kind of stuff. He competes hard, he checks hard. That's what makes it very interesting, a very hard player to play against. He's not one-dimensional...He's not just like, 'Hey, linemates, do the work and get me the puck.' He's on the forecheck...and he'll play hard."
In Gauthier's own words: "I think the biggest thing for me has been intensity. Just bringing it every single shift, shift in and shift out. Bringing it every night, and touching up goal scoring. I'm always learning how to beat goalies. I look at Auston Matthews and guys like that who seem to do it pretty easily. Just anything I can do...I'm always trying to score goals and apply it to my game."
His versatility shines in the fact that he started off as more of a natural winger, but has transitioned into more of a center role at Boston College and for Team USA.
Zirnis once again sings his praises as a center, saying, "Just the skill set he has and his attention to his competitiveness, obviously there will be growing pains but...he skates very well...he's got a good stride. I think especially that...centers always the players that can skate pretty well, can get up and down the ice."
Gauthier is a bit more humble about his proficiency in role, at least for Team USA, saying, "Whatever the coach wants. I want to be that versatile player. Playing left wing, playing center...I've been used to it this season with Boston College. It's been working out. I don't really have a preference."
However, the Flyers certainly do have a preference for their fifth overall draft pick. Gauthier opted to play his sophomore college season, but Flyers GM Danny Briere assures anxiously-waiting fans that it's all part of a bigger plan.
"We told him about our vision and what we see moving forward," Briere explained. "He had a discussion with his advisor and family, and they decided that it was better for him to go back for another year, which I really don't have a problem with. I think it's going to give him the chance to hopefully be even more dominant than he was this year...We're going to get a bigger, better, faster, more mature Cutter Gauthier the following year."
The day Philadelphia gets to see Gauthier in orange and black can't come fast enough, but once he's in the team, it's a pretty safe bet that he'll be able to plug up at least some of the leaks currently deflating the Flyers.
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