I believe that was denied by Briere in a Marek piece. « Didnt want to turn pro. Papers were ready ».
edit: Danny Briere confirmed on the Jeff Marek show that Cutter Gauthier wanted to go back to BC rather than turn pro.
You are actually mistaken. If you listen to the whole interview, that conversation happened after last years World Championships. This would be after the season, since World Champions ended May 23rd.
On 32 Thoughts today Elliotte said the timeline was:
1. BC gets elminated. Cutter expected to be going Pro and burning the first year of his rookie contract as the Flyers had around 19 games left on the season.
2. Briere said they didnt want to have cap overage for next season and offered an AHL Tryout and to start his ELC the next season with no guaranteed roster spot.
3. Cutter declined the AHL Tryout and said he would perfer to go back to BC in that case. I believe this is where he felt slighted.
4. Cutter makes World Championship roster (somewhat rare for a non pro player to make this team)
5. Cutter dominated scoring 7 Goals and 2 Assist in 10 Games as a 19 year old.
6. Cutter's agent requested a Zoom Call with the Flyers to discuss.
7. Briere said he thought Cutter had a change of heart and wanted to go pro so he got a contract ready. Instead Cutter told them he didnt want to be a Flyer.
Elliotte almost confirmed that he thinks this was the issue. Cutter may had been promised by the org that he would sign an ELC at the end of last season to burn his first year. Unfortunately, Briere took the GM job days before BC ended their season. Briere probably looked at the cap and decided he didnt want to have a cap overage for the next season which would slightly hand cuff him. Who knows exactly how that conversation went, but it makes sense that Cutter felt shafted by management. Briere maybe didnt let Cutter talk about the promises that were made. This arguably cost him millions of dollars in that he couldnt get to restricted free agency a year sooner. He then dominated at World Championships and I think to him was a sign that he deserved to play in the NHL at the end of the season.
As an FYI, it is somewhat common for players to sign their ELC immediately after the end of their college season. I think most of the time, this is after players play two or more seasons in College and the slide rule is no longer in effect. Its been an incentive to ensure college players sign out of college instead of going the 4 year Free Agent route. As a 5th Overall pick, he most likely felt he deserved that same right and was potentially promised that by the previous regime.
Edit to add that Matty Beniers did this exact thing in 2021-22 after playing his second season at Michigan, he played ten years for the Kraken to end the season and burn his ELC. Cole Caufield did the same thing in 2020-21 season after playing with Wisconsin, he finished the season playing 10 games for the Canadians.