Confirmed with Link: Flyers trade Cutter Gauthier to Anaheim for Jamie Drysdale and 2025 2nd round pick

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Is there a chance they try for a nuclear offer sheet this year? There’s one player out there…

Nope. Not with how ecstatic Keith Jones is talking about making sure other teams win too, and how proud he was that other teams didn’t leak Gauthier negotiations. We will never see an offer sheet.
 
Cap space is an asset. If you dont think a positive asset has value, then....
The value of an asset is related to its scarcity.
Unlike the NFL, you can't roll over NHL cap room.
So if you have a large amount of cap room, an incremental addition has almost zero value.

The reason some rebuilding teams have excess cap room is more about cash flow, they can't afford to run large losses during the rebuilding years of low attendance, so they try to cut costs to the bone - Arizona being an extreme example.
 
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The value of an asset is related to its scarcity.
Unlike the NFL, you can't roll over NHL cap room.
So if you have a large amount of cap room, an incremental addition has almost zero value.

The reason some rebuilding teams have excess cap room is more about cash flow, they can't afford to run large losses during the rebuilding years of low attendance, so they try to cut costs to the bone - Arizona being an extreme example.

Smart GMs turn spare cap space into assets.
 
Gauthier would have been on an ELC in 2025 and a 2nd contract likely comprised entirely of RFA years in 2027.

I would be floored if they waited until 2027 to hit the FA market. I agree completely that they should be waiting. But I don’t trust them to do that. My money is on July ‘25.

I guess I’ll toss this out there now because it’s always in the back of my mind. Is there a chance they try for a nuclear offer sheet this year? There’s one player out there…
I'd hope they'd use the cap room for more "Pederson" deals, taking on bad contracts (with 1-2 years left) to garner additional assets. And you can get good players on bad contracts this way - both be competitive and add assets if you're creative. Flyers for example could use a veteran playmaking center while a draft pick(s) marinate, so they might take an overpaid center who's paid like a top 2C but plays like a solid 3C.

And even an explosive offer sheet move would only run $10-11M.

Where they'll need money is at the end of the decade when hopefully they got to give 100 points per season Michkov a huge RFA deal (like NJ has done), resign Drysdale, York, Farabee, etc. Hopefully they won't give huge contracts to players like Palat, Hamilton, etc. and sign their core for the long-term.
 
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I'd hope they'd use the cap room for more "Pederson" deals, taking on bad contracts (with 1-2 years left) to garner additional assets. And you can get good players on bad contracts this way - both be competitive and add assets if you're creative. Flyers for example could use a veteran playmaking center while a draft pick(s) marinate, so they might take an overpaid center who's paid like a top 2C but plays like a solid 3C.

And even an explosive offer sheet move would only run $10-11M.

Where they'll need money is at the end of the decade when hopefully they got to give 100 points per season Michkov a huge RFA deal (like NJ has done), resign Drysdale, York, Farabee, etc. Hopefully they won't give huge contracts to players like Palat, Hamilton, etc. and sign their core for the long-term.

You know I want them to build slowly and weaponize incrementally.

I am also going to tell you that I would fork over 4 1sts and the $$ for Pettersson and not have to think about it. I’m not going to say disagreeing with that is necessarily wrong. But I will say that if we have a similar evaluation of him as a player, you should be interested. He clears bars you simply do not get swings at in normal situations.
 
You know I want them to build slowly and weaponize incrementally.

I am also going to tell you that I would fork over 4 1sts and the $$ for Pettersson and not have to think about it. I’m not going to say disagreeing with that is necessarily wrong. But I will say that if we have a similar evaluation of him as a player, you should be interested. He clears bars you simply do not get swings at in normal situations.
(4) 1sts is a lot, because I'm not sure they have that kind of depth in the organization yet, kind of move you make when you're already good and know you're picking in the 20s (TB special) and have the depth (or confidence in your drafting in the 2nd and 3rd rds) that you won't end up like Toronto and Edmonton (a handful of highly paid stars and holes in the boat).

My problem wouldn't be the player but the timing.
 
Even if you think they are equal talents, Gauthier will be playing on an ELC and is further away from free agency. That is a big deal and a benefit to drafting in the top 5 that the Flyers will not be able to capitalize on now - an "elite" cost controlled talent.

I don't think anyone objective thinks Gauthier is not a more valuable asset than Drysdale in January 2024. Hell the Flyers don't even think that as they got an additional piece thrown in. And I don't want to downplay 2nd round picks after years of pissing them away, but a future 2nd rounder in a trade of this magnitude is small potatoes. Anaheim got more value in the trade.
The value in the pick comes in that we get it sooner than we otherwise would have had we not signed him. The Flyers always had that in their back pocket. If they let Cutter’s rights expire, they get the 5th pick in the 2nd round in the draft following the expiration of his rights, which is 2027. That was basically insurance in case Cutter pulls the same shit the Ducks, which you can’t rule out.
 
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The value in the pick comes in that we get it sooner than we otherwise would have had we not signed him.

But that was never ever ever ever happening. Gauthier staying in college 4 years is a laughable bluff, and it doesn’t sound like his camp really threatened it. This got done in January of his sophomore year. If his concern is earnings, he will be on his 2nd contract by the time his 2 year ELC would start, if he became a UFA.
 
Pettersson.

For me at least, he’s the type of overwhelming talent that at least makes you consider fudging a timeline.
Agreed on Pettersson, but let me throw another name out there… thoughts on Byfield?

The Kings cap issues, along w/ Byfield being 21 make him a potentially interesting option in my opinion.

Edit: I would envision a Byfield offer sheet at most in the “one 1st/ one 2nd / one 3rd” compensation tier… not the “four 1sts” tier.
 
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I'll always have this beautiful reminder of Cutter's illustrious time in Philadelphia.
Screenshot_20240111-204117_Gallery.jpg
 
Have a feeling there was a bidding war of some sort. I don’t think there wouldn’t be for a highly touted prospect. I’d love to know who else was in the mix. This trade definitely could have gone much worse. Briere took a swing. If Drysdale becomes a top pair guy, it’s a home run. Even now he adds something important to the team as a raw player who’s missed a lot of time. Maybe he’s mr glass. It was still worth it to take the risk though. I’ve always seen Cutter as a high floor low ceiling type of player

If you were another team’s GM, what’s the most you would give up for Cutter? I think I would be hard pressed to offer something better than Drysdale. The fact this was kept so quiet is shocking too
 
We can debate who won the trade on and on, but that won’t be known for years to come.

That being said, if what Briere said is true, the whole situation does not make Gauthier look good. Say what you want about Lindros’ refusal to play for Quebec, but at least he was up front about it from day one.

For Gauthier to refuse to even speak to Briere, who might not have much of a track record as a GM but at least deserves respect as a quality former NHL player, tells me all I need to know about the young man’s character.

Yes he’s young, but he, and his agent, should have the decency and the spine to speak to the Flyer’s brass face to face. While there is no way to know right now who is the better player, Drysdale sure seems to be the classier person.
 
We can debate who won the trade on and on, but that won’t be known for years to come.

That being said, if what Briere said is true, the whole situation does not make Gauthier look good. Say what you want about Lindros’ refusal to play for Quebec, but at least he was up front about it from day one.

For Gauthier to refuse to even speak to Briere, who might not have much of a track record as a GM but at least deserves respect as a quality former NHL player, tells me all I need to know about the young man’s character.

Yes he’s young, but he, and his agent, should have the decency and the spine to speak to the Flyer’s brass face to face. While there is no way to know right now who is the better player, Drysdale sure seems to be the classier person.

Marcel Aubut was such a morally bankrupt dude as this article attests. Lindros not wanting to play for him was definitely justified.


 
I haven’t been watching too many games this year but with management knowing that Gauthier had no desire to sign for them, I’m curious if the Flyers broadcast was quiet about him?
 
I think maybe we win this trade which is great given the situation. Past situations like Lindros resulted in shit coming back. This is a good chance at a star player. That 2nd could be valuable too. I would love to draft a 1D with it and have our top pair paid for with Cutter.

I haven’t been watching too many games this year but with management knowing that Gauthier had no desire to sign for them, I’m curious if the Flyers broadcast was quiet about him?
I haven’t watched much but they def show highlights and mention him. I think they showed highlights of Cutter following the Gold medal and MV Forward award right before the trade. I don’t think JJ had a clue. Jones said he knew last year while broadcasting. Guess he never told JJ.
 

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