The Anaheim Ducks traded defenceman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025 to the Flyers on Monday for high-scoring college left-winger Cutter Gauthier, whose unwillingness to sign with Philadelphia catalyzed this swap of highly regarded youngsters.
Flyers general manager Danny Briere said he traded Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, because he wouldn’t sign, train or even communicate with the Flyers. Gauthier refused to meet with Briere and Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones when they flew to Sweden last month to watch as Gauthier led the U.S. team to the gold medal at the recently completed world junior championship.
“It was a long time coming,” Briere said. “It’s been going on for a while. We tried to give him space. We tried to get in touch with him many times. He would not communicate … so at some point, we had to make a decision, and we thought with what happened just a few days ago, this was probably the time to get the highest value.”
Gauthier initially told the Flyers that he wouldn’t join them last summer, a year after they drafted him. Briere said he purposely didn’t announce Gauthier’s reluctance or comment publicly on his increasingly awkward relationship with Philly’s top prospect.
“It was to try to protect the kid,” Briere said. “We were hoping that at some point he would change his mind. He had already changed his mind. He looked at us at the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and then a few months later, told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to play for the Flyers.
“So in our mind at first, we said, ‘We have to protect him, because if he changes his mind again, it’s going to be tough for him to put the uniform on.’ But when we realized that he refused to talk to us now, it’s been months and he didn’t want to be a Flyer, didn’t want to be in Philadelphia, it was time to make it happen.”
Asked for his reaction to Gauthier’s disinterest in playing in Philadelphia, Flyers head coach John Tortorella said, “Then, we don’t want you.”
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said he has spoken to Gauthier, who “was really excited when I talked to him, so that made me very, very happy.”
Plethora of talented young defencemen
The Ducks have a wealth of talented young defencemen in their system, including the defenceman of the year in all three Canadian major junior leagues.
“It’s such a good deal for us,” Tortorella said of getting Drysdale after Philadelphia’s 4-1 loss to the…
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