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Player Discussion Cutter Gauthier

Another guy I'll give some roses to the dev staff for. Cutter is really starting to look legit. He was so mistake prone when he started and I'd say he still doesn't have the best decision making but his shot and speed will serve him so well in his career and the mistakes will still come down with more experience. He's looked great since the 4 Nations break.

One of Verbeek's better pick ups.
 
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Out of our young players, he’s definitely the most naturally gifted in terms of athleticism IMO. He has the quick twitch stuff that other guys don’t have

I’m very impressed by him. Battling through this adversity and bad coaching as a 1st year pro and still producing consistently is really impressive
 
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From Cavanagh on The Sporting Tribune:

Cutter
“Definitely worked my way back up,” Gauthier said. “I've always been comfortable playing with Leo, and we have a good chemistry off the ice, so it's pretty fun to play with him. I feel like we read each other really well, both similar, really good skaters and crafty.

“And Killer, obviously, with all the experience he has, he just tells us to go skate and he'll find us."

“You never want to play in the bottom six minutes, but I think it was something that was needed for my game,” Gauthier said. “Never kind of seen that perspective before… you have to fight for pucks a little bit more. You gotta be a bit more physical. You gotta set up the ground game instead of making everything look pretty and cute.”

“I’ve always been a volume shooter,” Gauthier said. “I've been able to score every single level shooting from anywhere in the O-zone, especially last year in college. I would score from pretty much about everywhere. At the start of the year, I didn't really change that too much, but now, I'm not gonna score on NHL goalies from the blue (line). Once in a blue moon I might, but just trying to pick my spots better, and if there's a better play to be made, I'm willing to make it.”

“I thought coming into it, it’s the NHL, it is the hardest league in the world. I thought it was gonna be a smooth transition, but it's not always like that,” Gauthier said. “It was a nice wake up call that you gotta put your work boots on and come to work every single day and I got a lot more to prove, and it'll be a fun summer going into the next year.”
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Killorn
“(Gauthier) has a little bit of confidence,” Killorn said. “He's always been a great skater, great shot, but I think his ability to hold onto the puck and make plays is what's really gonna make him a great player. I think he's improved in that sense.”
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Cronin
“What I've learned in my relationship with him is that there's certain parts of the game that the NHL guys do naturally well,” Cronin said, “and you can rely on them as a coach being really good at it. Part of it’s (defensive) zone arrivals. They'll shoulder check, they'll look around, they'll get a sense of what's going on behind them before they make a decision. He wasn't doing any of that, like zero.”

“I was like, what the hell?” Cronin continued with a laugh. “You come down to the D zone and just stare at the puck and he's got attackers right behind him. Just that awareness of what's going on around him, both defensively and offensively was very absent. And I think, as he started to look, he started to slow the game down defensively, and offensively, ironically, it has come later for him.”

"He was just taking pucks and chucking them to the net. But to me, they weren't purposeful shots.” Cronin said, again pointing to the rookie awareness factor. “They were reactionary shots that were tied to his natural DNA, which was I’m a shooter. I'm a shooter, I’m a shooter. Well, you turn on the puck over in the NHL, because if you don't hit the net, it's going out the other side, and they're coming out on a breakout.”
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ScarTroy said:
When we got him most of the reports seemed like he was just a pure sniper, but he’s actually a very high IQ passer as well. He makes some great plays.
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See this is what drove me nuts about the belly aching about him being one dimensional and low IQ. Anyone who actually watched him in BC could tell this was a possibility. Like, he wasn't strictly this otherworldly playmaker but he executed more than a fair share of passes thst left me thinking "okay he's not JUST a shooter"
 
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I agree the scouting reports were off it seems. Not just off but literally kind of *** backwards. His IQ was stated to be not particularly strong but if anything it’s been a strength this year.

Some rival fans were trying to undersell him earlier in the year as well. I think myself and a few others called them out on it, but they’ll probably be pretty quiet from now on.

Rakell was like this too I think. He was sold as being a strong defensive forward with questionable offense when he was drafted and during juniors, but he developed into a solid top 6 forward who hasn’t been particularly good defensively.
 
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I don't think Gauthier is high IQ, but it's not low, either. I think he thrives on that line because Leo's speed/playmaking and Killorn's defensive acumen give him space and time that he didn't have on other lines. When he has that extra split second, he can make plays.

The criticism I heard a lot of him in college was that he wasn't a play-driver. I think that was overblown, but there's a little something to it. He's not going to be a possession monster, but he'll work really well alongside players who can get him the puck in space or with speed through the neutral zone.

Gauthier's ability to get a shot off with speed and accuracy in tight spaces is something this team hasn't had since prime Perry.
 
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In hindsight, this was a really great move by PV. Jury is still out on Drysdale's upside but Lacombe, Mintyukov, Zellweger, probably Luneau too rendered him redundant.

Gauthier looks like he's going to live up to his fifth overall selection and appears on track to be a first line goal scorer. To get that for a guy whose future is questionable due to health concerns and some concerns with his adaptability is pretty huge. We did get lucky that Cutter's situation in Philly became untenable but he could've easily gone to a different team. It was a huge W for this team's rebuild.
 
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I honestly can't think of many times when we had this kind of an asset just kinda fall into our laps. Maybe the Kesler deal, but that still involved a 1st, Bones and Sbisa.

I did have high hopes on Drysdale, but...can't argue with results so far. Cutter's in his groove now while Jamie's in his 5th year still trying to find his.
 
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Gliff said:
Remember when people were mad about the trade because the Ducks gave up a 2nd rounder?

Could go down as one of the best longterm-outcome trades in Ducks history.
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Remember when these boards were this excited about Comtois?

Easy to play revisionist history.

That said, I feel better about Cutter hitting than I ever did about Max. Could top out as a 30 goal scorer, but that's probably his ceiling.
 
FiveHoleTickler said:
Remember when these boards were this excited about Comtois?

Easy to play revisionist history.

That said, I feel better about Cutter hitting than I ever did about Max. Could top out as a 30 goal scorer, but that's probably his ceiling.
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I mean, anyone who watched the Ducks that year should have seen there was a large chance for regression for Max. He scored like 90% of his goals within 5 feet of the net and most as rebounds.

Cutter has not been that way at all.
 
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FiveHoleTickler said:
Remember when these boards were this excited about Comtois?

Easy to play revisionist history.

That said, I feel better about Cutter hitting than I ever did about Max. Could top out as a 30 goal scorer, but that's probably his ceiling.
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You can't still be talking about Max so...uh. Lol? Cutter could finish his rookie season with 20 goals on one of the most offensively inept teams in the league and after a long adjustment period and you think his ceiling is 30 goals...because?
 
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Gliff said:
I mean, anyone who watched the Ducks that year should have seen there was a large chance for regression for Max. He scored like 90% of his goals within 5 feet of the net and most as rebounds.

Cutter has not been that way at all.
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Very, very few voiced any skepticism regarding Comtois coming out of his career year. Nearly everyone on these boards penned him into the top 6 long term.

I personally never saw it with him, but I'm not blaming anyone for getting excited at the time. Just pointing out the parallels between Max then, and now with Cutter.

But again, I recognize there's more of a sustainability factor with Cutter.
 
Gliff said:
I mean, anyone who watched the Ducks that year should have seen there was a large chance for regression for Max. He scored like 90% of his goals within 5 feet of the net and most as rebounds.

Cutter has not been that way at all.
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Yeah, Comtois shot 17% on 94 shots and he just wasn't that good of a shooter. There was some decent puck luck in there.

Gauthier has an excellent shot AND is a volume shooter. He's under 10% for the year. I don't think he's likely to become a perennial 40-goal guy, but I think he's one of those guys who can pretty consistently get 30ish goals. He's also a good candidate to have a year or two where everything comes together and he hits on 18% of his shots and scores 45.
 
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I feel like Cutter and Leo are like St. Helens when it gives off signs before an eruption. Leo and Cutter are very 'seismically active' right now haha. I think they're gonna put up some numbers next year and hopefully with a better coach/system. Theyve both just been money for the past month or so.
 
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FiveHoleTickler said:
Very, very few voiced any skepticism regarding Comtois coming out of his career year. Nearly everyone on these boards penned him into the top 6 long term.

I personally never saw it with him, but I'm not blaming anyone for getting excited at the time. Just pointing out the parallels between Max then, and now with Cutter.

But again, I recognize there's more of a sustainability factor with Cutter.
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Well, I think both were possible at the same time. He was only 22 and in his D+4. I expected him to get better but also for his shooting % to regress form the 17% it was that year. Both would have balanced out to a 25 goal 50ish point player.

Gauthier has been better in every way.
 
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