HeadLiceHatty
Registered User
I don't think Flyer fans know about the Justin Schultz situation. Ducks found a gem in the 2nd round in BCHL prospect, college bound D Schultz. Schultz told the Ducks he would sign with them after his junior year in college. Schultz kept his mouth shut and let the time expire to be signed by the Ducks in order to become a UFA. Ducks got nothing with the devious ploy Schultz did.
The crying about losing a top prospect from the NCAA to a Ducks' fan seems like a waste of time. It's already happened to us twice in the past 11 years. First time was D Schultz in 2012 and we got nothing. Second time was last year with D Thrun, but he told us he didn't want to sign with us near the end of his college season and we were able to fortunately trade him for a 3rd round pick.
The Flyers front office already knew for about a year that Cutter didn't want to be Flyer. There's confirmation the Flyers tried to trade Cutter at the last draft for the 5th overall pick, owned by MTL. MTL said no.
Because Cutter told the Philly org he wanted out early in his collegiate career, GM Briere was able to hold a sweepstakes for Cutter's rights - especially after a great showing at the WJC-20. The Flyers received an NHL top-pairing RD with elite speed AND a 2025 second round pick from the Ducks. Drysdale just signed a 3-year extension worth $2.3 mil AAV for the next three seasons. Drysdale had no say on "not being traded" by the Ducks, btw. Also, the Ducks are still in rebuild mode and that 2025 second round pick will probably be in the top half of the 2nd round.
Let's hope the complaints about wanting out of the org stops in this prospects thread. There's a the Flyers forum thread that will gladly welcome complaints specifically about Cutter wanting out of Philly.
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From a Ducks' perspective, we're acquiring a Flyers prospect with high potential. I dunno how high, but the Athletic's Pronman ranked the best NHL players and prospects under age 23 this past August, before the season started. Rankings are subjective with each respective org, but using Pronman is the closest we get to some objectivity.
- U23 NHL players and prospects ranking
- Tier 2: Elite NHL player
- 5. RW Michkov (Flyers)
- Tier 3: Bubble elite to NHL All-Star
- 7. C Zegras (Ducks)
- Tier 4: NHL All-Star
- 10. C Leo Carlsson (Ducks)
- 15. C Mason McTavish (Ducks)
- Tier 6: Top of the lineup player
- 34. D Drysdale (Ducks)
- 38. C Cutter Gauthier (Flyers)
- Tier 7: Bubble Top to Middle of the lineup player
- 59. D Zellweger (Ducks)
- 61. D Mintyukov (Ducks)
With half the 2023-24 season done, the rankings are probably different now. Drysdale missed almost all of last season, which is why he was dinged down to 34th ranking. With Drysdale playing two games for the Flyers already, he's got 2 assists, +1 rating, and averaging about 21:00 ATOI. He's doing this at the NHL level today at age 21. Flyers fans are witnessing this at the NHL level today.
Ducks fans are still scrambling to find out what exactly do we have in Cutter. After reading up on his season this year at BC and the WJC on this thread, the consensus appears to be big PF with elite speed and great shot, but doesn't crash the net and trouble playmaking. Plus side is he wins FO's, which led to immediate points at the WJC. Also, playing center might not be Cutter's strong suit in the NHL.
In Anaheim, Cutter won't be playing as a top-6 center. (See list above.) That will help alleviate concerns about playmaking skills. With his huge size, I do worry that he doesn't crash the net and would prefer to shoot from afar - based on the reporting on this thread before he was traded to Anaheim.
This guy hitting it on the head, we should all just chill tf out and root for the other player or just leave it alone. I was a bit salty as were many, but its over now. It's just whatever, I've never seen any Anaheim fans on the board that were impossible to deal with anyways. That being said when CG comes to Philly it'll be a nightmare, but he's in the west anyways and it won't happen often, so it's not that big of a deal.
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