Player Discussion Cutter Gauthier

[JAHV]

With 3 games left just like to see them keep producing and playing well. Finish the year very strong. I mean they already have but a few more points can’t hurt.

I feel this is a transitional time heading into next season. Which means the Vets need to take a back seat now, should be only getting 3rd line mins. Outside of Terry of course.

I think even Terry needs to be getting 3rd line minutes. He had another rough game last night and just looks off.

 

[HanSolo]

Cutter has now matched Vatrano’s production but has done so playing much, much cleaner defensively. He and Leo will probably take the scoring reins next year. Both of them have seen a lot of growth over the course of the year. I except even more theatrics in the final 3.

Lol I just looked up their average TOI. Cutter tied Frank playing a full 3 and a half fewer minutes per game and a full minute and change less powerplay time per game. And this is still just Cutter's rookie season.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Lol I just looked up their average TOI. Cutter tied Frank playing a full 3 and a half fewer minutes per game and a full minute and change less powerplay time per game. And this is still just Cutter's rookie season.

Vatrano is one of the most inefficient players in the league i'd say

 

[FiveTacos]

Some are happy for Gauthier on the Flyers board and think their team chose Torts over Gauthier and end up firing Torts anyways.

I still suspect it wasn't about Torts ... the little hint from the agent and the weird caginess of it all from both sides suggests to me there was some sort of run in between a family member and someone entrenched in the org. Even if you don't like a coach, everyone knows coaches don't last, neither side would go through all that crap over a guy who, on average, will be gone within 2 years anyway. It had to be something/someone bigger that wasn't going anywhere.

Vatrano is one of the most inefficient players in the league i'd say

He is what he is, a 3rd liner who scores goals well enough to stopgap as a 3rd wheel on the 2nd line for a while, but is very flawed. Like most of our vets, he's a good guy to have, just not in the role we have him in.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Some are happy for Gauthier on the Flyers board and think their team chose Torts over Gauthier and end up firing Torts anyways. Its almost like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno owns the Flyers and that is really sad to see a sports franchise with terrible owner/GM.
Remember when the Angels traded Mike Napoli because of the coach for Vernon Wells and Wells sucked horribly his whole time in Anaheim meanwhile Napoli went to back to back WS trips with Texas and then won a WS with Boston in 2013.

iirc, it was the FO that dicked Cutter around with the ELC. The Flyers FO wanted to sign Cutter to an ELC that would start the following season instead of right after his freshman season ended.

I dunno if Cutter would have flourished sooner in Philly b/c they were going to make him a centerman. Cutter's a lot more freer playing LW, which requires less responsibilities than playing center.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Cronin and Clune have really kept both Leo and Cutter from really breaking out this year. They should be able to get top PP mins with Mac. It’s the perfect combo. Mac can win FO’s get pucks to teamates, Leo can make plays and Cutter can Snipe. Give them two other guys to complement them, and will have a solid PP. But nope.

Cronin has kept this team's offense from breaking out for the past two seasons. Cronin didn't even coach in the last 20 games from last year. I harped on Cronin's inability to make players "play up" all last year, but so many Cronin Crushes wouldn't have it. He doesn't know how to elevate players or schemes in order to win.

The team was only 1 point better than the previous season despite the +38 goal differential. We have had an abysmal PP and PP coach, Newell Brown, between '22-23 and '23-24 (last year), but the '22-23 Eakins club still came away with two 60+ point producers in Terry and Zegras. Two years under Cronin and we barely have one player with 60 points; it was Vatrano's 37-goal explosion and 13 PPG, which was under PP coach Brown.

• The biggest differences between last year ('23-24) and this year ('24-25) are ...
  • vastly superior goal tending
    • Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx): Dostal = 14.4 and Gibby = 15.3
    • That is about 30 goals saved this season!
  • vastly reduced penalties, which reduces PK goals against
    • Last year: 330 PK opportunities against and 91 PK goals against
    • This year: 239 PK opportunities against and 63 PK goals against in 79 games
    • That is a 28 goals against reduction this season!
  • Currently, we have allowed 31 fewer goals this season. Which are attributed to improved goaltending and discipline.

I don't think Cronin knows how to assess talents well. LaCombe is a #1D this year, but Cronin did put him into a rotation early in the season. Also early into the season, Cronin played Colangelo as a 4th line grinder in his first two call-ups. He scored one goal in those 12 games (8 games first call-up and 4 games in second call-up), when he played in the top-6 with Vatrano and Strome b/c Terry had a family emergency. Colangelo's third call-up has made him into an NHL mainstay. For the past 17 games, Colangelo has scored 7g + 2a and a +1 rating player.

These are examples of the kids figuring it out themselves. Carlsson got some good directions at the 4 Nations. Cutter got revived when he got demoted to Mac's wing. Z's offensive flair begam to show again when demote to Mac's wing. Helleson looks great at RD3, but he also looked like that a couple of years ago in his last NHL call-up. A couple of other youths are still trying to keep their heads above water in Zell and Minty. We have a bunch to top students thriving despite having a not-so good teacher.

 

[HanSolo]

iirc, it was the FO that dicked Cutter around with the ELC. The Flyers FO wanted to sign Cutter to an ELC that would start the following season instead of right after his freshman season ended.

I dunno if Cutter would have flourished sooner in Philly b/c they were going to make him a centerman. Cutter's a lot more freer playing LW, which requires less responsibilities than playing center.

I don't know that we ever got confirmation that was the reason for the trade request. Not saying you're wrong. I'd just have to imagine that there was something more significant that happened behind the scenes that caused Cutter to ice out the Flyers front office when they tried to talk to him at the world juniors.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

It's quite impressive how well this kid has improved over the course of his first year as a pro, especially considering the awful coaching here. His future looks very bright. The sky's the limit when we get a new coach.

 

[Rec T]

I'd just have to imagine that there was something more significant that happened behind the scenes that caused Cutter to ice out the Flyers front office when they tried to talk to him at the world juniors.

Not getting a year burned off the ELC is more than enough in my eyes if it had been promised to him (by the previous management group). Even a year of that contract is a 'lot' of money to most everyone, let alone being delayed a year from getting to what he'll eventually earn on a star level contract. I'd think taking millions away from his career earnings would be more than enough for him to say "screw you, trade me now"

 

[Big Fat Rebound]

@All Mighty brought it up in the GDT last night, but Cutter also gets a $250,000 "A" performance bonus for hitting the 20-goal mark (confirmed via Puckpedia).

 

[Leonardo87]

@All Mighty brought it up in the GDT last night, but Cutter also gets a $250,000 "A" performance bonus for hitting the 20-goal mark (confirmed via Puckpedia).

Should treat Leo to a steak dinner. Lol.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Should treat Leo to a steak dinner. Lol.

It better be the 96 ounce Steak from The Great Outdoors.

 

[Rybread86]

IIR The reason for Cutter trade request was simply that the Flyers Org was opposed to bringing Cutter up and having him play in the NHL. Im sure there was more behind the scenes, but the kid was drafted high and didnt want to be stuck in College or the minors.

Kids going to be special for the Ducks. And out of all the guys people keep throwing around as future Captain, Cutter seems to have the poise and personality to be that guy.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

It seems normal that he will earn PP time next season for how well he did this season. It will be infuriating if he doesn't get PP time next season.

 

[Arthuros]

It seems normal that he will earn PP time next season for how well he did this season. It will be infuriating if he doesn't get PP time next season.

> Best shooter on the team right now
> Not on either unit

Why is this team allergic to competent special team coaches?

 

[FiveTacos]

IIR The reason for Cutter trade request was simply that the Flyers Org was opposed to bringing Cutter up and having him play in the NHL. Im sure there was more behind the scenes, but the kid was drafted high and didnt want to be stuck in College or the minors.

That was never really confirmed.

We might not know for a long time, if ever. The ELC speculation makes sense. Not wanting to play in the minors makes sense. Both are valid reasons ...

But why wouldn't either side just say so then? His agent said something about the family being involved in the decision, Cutter said there were a couple things over time, the Flyers claimed ignorance. If it were a simple business/development disagreement there's no reason to be evasive.

I'm just thinking it had to be something really unusual behind the scenes, like someone behaving inappropriately, someone having bad past history with a family member, etc., where you can't just talk about it.

 

[Rybread86]

That was never really confirmed.

We might not know for a long time, if ever. The ELC speculation makes sense. Not wanting to play in the minors makes sense. Both are valid reasons ...

But why wouldn't either side just say so then? His agent said something about the family being involved in the decision, Cutter said there were a couple things over time, the Flyers claimed ignorance. If it were a simple business/development disagreement there's no reason to be evasive.

I'm just thinking it had to be something really unusual behind the scenes, like someone behaving inappropriately, someone having bad past history with a family member, etc., where you can't just talk about it.

Completely possible. Also possible they didnt air their dirty laundry because Cutter never made it public, so they also decided to keep it quiet and just not talk about it.

 

[FiveTacos]

Completely possible. Also possible they didnt air their dirty laundry because Cutter never made it public, so they also decided to keep it quiet and just not talk about it.

Yeah, but what little did come out from Gauthier's side suggested it was not business related. It's just weird.

And it's also entirely possible management truly did not know what the cause was, if it was just one person in the organization they had a problem with. If someone F'd up the relationship, they're not gonna admit it.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

That was never really confirmed.

We might not know for a long time, if ever. The ELC speculation makes sense. Not wanting to play in the minors makes sense. Both are valid reasons ...

But why wouldn't either side just say so then? His agent said something about the family being involved in the decision, Cutter said there were a couple things over time, the Flyers claimed ignorance. If it were a simple business/development disagreement there's no reason to be evasive.

I'm just thinking it had to be something really unusual behind the scenes, like someone behaving inappropriately, someone having bad past history with a family member, etc., where you can't just talk about it.

I think you're right. It very likely goes beyond something as simple as burning a year of ELC. Somebody in the org may have acted inappropriately in a way that benefits no one by going public about it.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I think you're right. It very likely goes beyond something as simple as burning a year of ELC. Somebody in the org may have acted inappropriately in a way that benefits no one by going public about it.

But they DID go public in a way. That's what was so scummy about Briere/Jones. They talked about what a jerk he was and how he disrespected the colors, evidently knowing Cutter wouldn't or couldn't come out with the reason. They leveraged whatever it was to make themselves look less incompetent and they did it by explicitly inviting a pile on by the worst fans in sports.

 

[dracom]

I think you're right. It very likely goes beyond something as simple as burning a year of ELC. Somebody in the org may have acted inappropriately in a way that benefits no one by going public about it.

this is pure speculation and if mods wanna delete they can, but i personally think it's due to the Hart situation.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

But they DID go public in a way. That's what was so scummy about Briere/Jones. They talked about what a jerk he was and how he disrespected the colors, evidently knowing Cutter wouldn't or couldn't come out with the reason. They leveraged whatever it was to make themselves look less incompetent and they did it by explicitly inviting a pile on by the worst fans in sports.

You're right that the Flyers did act like asses about it.

I guess I wasn't clear in meaning that there was potentially a reason Gautier would never want to speak out about it. And perhaps knowing that, Jones and Brier decided to go full asshat mode.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

You're right that the Flyers did act like asses about it.

I guess I wasn't clear in meaning that there was potentially a reason Gautier would never want to speak out about it. And perhaps knowing that, Jones and Brier decided to go full asshat mode.

No, we're on the same page.

 

[FiveTacos]

Well, Briere's kid is also an asshat, so it wouldn't be shocking if a whole bunch more asshats were hanging around the org ... they tend to clump together, especially when the boss tolerates it. And all it takes is one who's an asshat AND an idiot to screw things up by doing or saying something stupid.

Cutter said it was a couple of things that happened over time. To me that doesn't sound like a contract thing or a dispute over AHL time or even a problem with the coach ... it sounds like somebody with or around the team does not know how to behave.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Well, Briere's kid is also an asshat, so it wouldn't be shocking if a whole bunch more asshats were hanging around the org ... they tend to clump together, especially when the boss tolerates it. And all it takes is one who's an asshat AND an idiot to screw things up by doing or saying something stupid.

Cutter said it was a couple of things that happened over time. To me that doesn't sound like a contract thing or a dispute over AHL time or even a problem with the coach ... it sounds like somebody with or around the team does not know how to behave.

That place is an asshat rack!