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

[Jettany]

Really looking forward to the reaction he gets when he plays here!

It's gonna be fun



And Pronger

And Primeau. Crazy.

Don't know what you'd call Bobby Orr.

He actually played Defense. Was just in a league of his own. All Coffey did was roam looking for offense. That’s my opinion.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I liked Byram more than Drysdale at the same age, but kinda the same deal. Injuries, missed dev time, and on a second contract already.

Did they talk about acquiring anyone that hasn't had serious health issues?

 

[Random Forest]

Yeah, probably. Not sure who else it would be.

Friedman also mentioned that they were more focused on getting D back.

They kind of had to get a D back. There’s no way you return a prospect of more or less equal value and pedigree at the same position. It was either a swap for a D prospect or trying to cash in for the highest value pick you could get at the draft.

It’s honestly incredibly fortunate that Anaheim was in a position to trade a young defender. If they weren’t stacked with D prospects, I am pretty sure all of the alternatives on the table would have drove us insane.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

This is why the Briere interview on Marek matters:

Danny says they anticipated the post-WC zoom call was Cutter changing his mind, because he previously told them he was going back to BC "We thought that he was going to tell us that he wanted to turn pro, that he was changing his mind because had told us that he wanted to go back to college for another year to develop, but he had a really good World Championship"....this HAS to be a reference to them talking in March 2023.

I don't know why Marek didn't ask specifically about the March 2023 call. I LOVE MAREK, but this is awful reporting.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

They kind of had to get a D back. There’s no way you return a prospect of more or less equal value and pedigree at the same position. It was either a swap for a D prospect or trying to cash in for the highest value pick you could get at the draft.

I have no problems with Drysdale, but I think being in the NHL for multiple years with one team and the injuries and a bit of potential contention about the contract changes the calculus here. Essentially, Drysdale was made available because of Drysdale. Not because he was a D.

We have no way of knowing whether Gauthier could have been used as part of the deal to get Zegras for example. I’m picking him because of the similar contention, not because I want to weigh them out as potential additions.

 

[Redpath]

This is why the Briere interview on Marek matters:

Danny says they anticipated the post-WC zoom call was Cutter changing his mind, because he previously told them he was going back to BC "We thought that he was going to tell us that he wanted to turn pro, that he was changing his mind because had told us that he wanted to go back to college for another year to develop, but he had a really good World Championship"....this HAS to be a reference to them talking in March 2023.

I don't know why Marek didn't ask specifically about the March 2023 call. I LOVE MAREK, but this is awful reporting.

Marek should have had pushback with Friedman on today's show, too. Friedman is still running with the "Cutter thought he was turning pro at the end of last season" line, but Marek heard the opposite from Briere yesterday. The most important detail here is in dispute by the two most authoritative sources on the matter so far.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I have no problems with Drysdale, but I think being in the NHL for multiple years with one team and the injuries and a bit of potential contention about the contract changes the calculus here. Essentially, Drysdale was made available because of Drysdale. Not because he was a D.

We have no way of knowing whether Gauthier could have been used as part of the deal to get Zegras for example. I’m picking him because of the similar contention, not because I want to weigh them out as potential additions.

Yeah I think Verbeek is a bit of a hardo. There were rumors in the summer and fall that he wasn’t happy about Drysdale and Zegras holding out. Drysdale has been dealt and it sounds like Zegras is heading out too once he can walk again.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

Marek should have had pushback with Friedman on today's show, too. Friedman is still running with the "Cutter thought he was turning pro at the end of last season" line, but Marek heard the opposite from Briere yesterday. The most important detail here is in dispute by the two most authoritative sources on the matter so far.

Friedman kind of talks about the convo in March 2023, but here's the thing..

Did Danny tell Cutter no in early March 2023, and then Cutter told him i'm going back to BC at the end of March 2023? (March 24th or something)?

That's what we're missing.

 

[Redpath]

Friedman kind of talks about the convo in March 2023, but here's the thing..

Did Danny tell Cutter no in early March 2023, and then Cutter told him i'm going back to BC at the end of March 2023? (March 24th or something)?

That's what we're missing.

That is definitely a plausible theory. Maybe Danny is leaving out the reason why, as Danny alleges, Cutter wanted to go back to BC for another season: Because the Flyers had already rebuffed him from burning an ELC year in March 2023, but were ready for him to turn pro in May 2023 once the season was over. I wouldn't blame Danny for not publicly admitting to that reasoning if it is why the relationship soured, but it also doesn't help us sleuths establish a credible timeline.

I keep saying that it is impossible to decipher which public nuggets in this story are the truth, a half-truth, and total spin.

 

[usahockey22flyers]

That is definitely a plausible theory. Maybe Danny is leaving out the reason why, as Danny alleges, Cutter wanted to go back to BC for another season: Because the Flyers had already rebuffed him from burning an ELC year in March 2023, but were ready for him to turn pro in May 2023 once the season was over. I wouldn't blame Danny for not publicly admitting to that reasoning if it is why the relationship soured, but it also doesn't help us sleuths establish a credible timeline.

I keep saying that it is impossible to decipher which public nuggets in this story are the truth, a half-truth, and total spin.

I am at Voorhees playing or coaching 3-4x a week. Sometimes I walk past Danny, Keith, players, Hartnell, JJ - you name it. I promise I will ask straight up next time I see one of them

 

[Jettany]

That is definitely a plausible theory. Maybe Danny is leaving out the reason why, as Danny alleges, Cutter wanted to go back to BC for another season: Because the Flyers had already rebuffed him from burning an ELC year in March 2023, but were ready for him to turn pro in May 2023 once the season was over. I wouldn't blame Danny for not publicly admitting to that reasoning if it is why the relationship soured, but it also doesn't help us sleuths establish a credible timeline.

I keep saying that it is impossible to decipher which public nuggets in this story are the truth, a half-truth, and total spin.

I still think there is more. You can become the face of the franchise in a city that loves hockey for a decade. If he’s as good as he thinks he is money would be zero issue.

I wonder if he really wants to go to the ducks? Or now is almost trapped into doing so reputation-wise.

 

[Larry44]

I was thinking this morning of the size hit that the Flyers take in this deal, which is not insignificant given that part of the Gauthier hype line was 'big power forward'. I am pleasantly surprised that the key piece coming to the Flyers is a <6-foot defenseman whose main attribute is offense. And reading that Tortorella and Shaw obviously gave Drysdale their stamp of approval -- unsurprising that they needed to -- is a bit of positive, IMHO.

True, it is a size hit among the F prospect group, which is loads of smurfs except Foerster/Tippett/Allison and maybe Devin Kaplan coming up. It certainly puts the onus on them to focus on Cs in the next draft, especially bigger Cs and maybe a big hitting winger. It also means that with York and Drysdale, it might be harder for Andrae to crack the lineup. We'll see.

Sanheim-Drysdale
York-Bonk
Zamula-Grans
Andrae-Attard
Zanetti-Samson
Ginning-Sotheran

They have a few RHS-D in the system, now they can add some LHS ones.

 

[Jettany]

I am at Voorhees playing or coaching 3-4x a week. Sometimes I walk past Danny, Keith, players, Hartnell, JJ - you name it. I promise I will ask straight up next time I see one of them

That will be very interesting.

 

[Redpath]

I still think there is more. You can become the face of the franchise in a city that loves hockey for a decade. If he’s as good as he thinks he is money would be zero issue.

I wonder if he really wants to go to the ducks? Or now is almost trapped into doing so reputation-wise.

People are motivated by different things. What works for Michkov (Become the face of a big hockey franchise) might be irrelevant to Gauthier, especially when money is on the line.

Maybe Gauthier did want that, until he saw Chuck's ineptness get immediately followed up with Briere rebuffing him on his ELC.

Maybe he never wanted to be a Flyer and finally took the plunge to make sure it didn't happen. Possibly the relationship didn't actually "sour" between March and May 2023, maybe Gauthier had just bitten his tongue since the 2022 draft. I can't blame it if some 19 year olds simply don't view Philadelphia as a cool place to be, it could be a simple explanation as that.

I wish we knew more. It's fun to speculate, but frustrating how unclear this all is.

 

[Jettany]

People are motivated by different things. What works for Michkov (Become the face of a big hockey franchise) might be irrelevant to Gauthier, especially when money is on the line.

Maybe Gauthier did want that, until he saw Chuck's ineptness get immediately followed up with Briere rebuffing him on his ELC.

Maybe he never wanted to be a Flyer and finally took the plunge to make sure it didn't happen. Possibly the relationship didn't actually "sour" between March and May 2023, maybe Gauthier had just bitten his tongue since the 2022 draft. I can't blame it if some 19 year olds simply don't view Philadelphia as a cool place to be, it could be a simple explanation as that.

I wish we knew more. It's fun to speculate, but frustrating how unclear this all is.

Then be a man and tell them at the draft if it was his thoughts from the beginning. It’s looking more like the firing/handling of Chuck. Is that even possible?

 

[Random Forest]

I have no problems with Drysdale, but I think being in the NHL for multiple years with one team and the injuries and a bit of potential contention about the contract changes the calculus here. Essentially, Drysdale was made available because of Drysdale. Not because he was a D.

We have no way of knowing whether Gauthier could have been used as part of the deal to get Zegras for example. I’m picking him because of the similar contention, not because I want to weigh them out as potential additions.

Yes, but Drysdale certainly would not have been available if Mintyukov had not established himself so overwhelmingly. Or if Zellweger was not knocking on the door with a prolific junior resume. Drysdale was primarily available because of Anaheim’s particular circumstance. He may have been the odd man out in that list of names because of his injury history and missed development time, but the circumstance was the proximate cause.

I am sure there are plenty of other established players who Gauthier could have been dealt for, and perhaps Zegras was one. But again, it’s a small universe of names that would fit the criteria of being young enough to match Briere’s timeline and actually available in a trade. Zegras is only a thought because it’s unusual that a player like him is available.

 

[ajgoal]

The Zoom call took place after the conclusion of both his Freshman season and the World Championships. So presumably end of May or into early June of 2023. They thought the call was requested to tell the Flyers he was ready to turn Pro and they had a contract ready.

This contradicts reports that they were not willing to sign him prior to the 23-24 season due to their salary cap and his potential bonus overages. More shoddy reporting by Friedman. No surprise.

Didn't Friedman say specifically that they were worried about a bonus overage? That would only have a risk of occurring if Gauthier played during the 22-23 season, which was over by May.

 

[Jettany]

Didn't Friedman say specifically that they were worried about a bonus overage? That would only have a risk of occurring if Gauthier played during the 22-23 season, which was over by May.

That was his pure speculation I believe he said.

 

[FromOyVey2Matvei]

Briere's interview absolutely contradicts this though. But who knows which nuggets are sincere and which are posturing.

Would you actually expect the Flyers to be honest and admit their mistake or their role in a massive mistake that cost us one of our only two star level prospects?

I think it would be refreshing and might show actual signs of change, self-reflection and accountability, but it’s about the least Flyers thing I could imagine.

The team’s president going on a podcast 5 mins after the trade and invoking battery throwing and JD Drew is much, much more on brand for the Flyers.

 

[GKJ]

Didn't Friedman say specifically that they were worried about a bonus overage? That would only have a risk of occurring if Gauthier played during the 22-23 season, which was over by May.

The bonus overage was on Noah Cates’ contract. Signing Gauthier would/may have pushed that.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Yes, but Drysdale certainly would not have been available if Mintyukov had not established himself so overwhelmingly. Or if Zellweger was not knocking on the door with a prolific junior resume. Drysdale was primarily available because of Anaheim’s particular circumstance. He may have been the odd man out in that list of names because of his injury history and missed development time, but the circumstance was the proximate cause.

I am sure there are plenty of other established players who Gauthier could have been dealt for, and perhaps Zegras was one. But again, it’s a small universe of names that would fit the criteria of being young enough to match Briere’s timeline and actually available in a trade. Zegras is only a thought because it’s unusual that a player like him is available.

It is a internal warning sign for me when I have a thought that involves being sure of what a pro team is thinking. This goes back to assuming competence. I'm glad it's not the Flyers this time because I talk about it so much in relation to them when it's a much more broad issue with sports. There are multiple orgs with horrendous processes in every sport. Anaheim certainly has some of the markers.

Zegras is ~13 months older in the same organization with the same GM. They don't have a glut of Forwards. They don't have a glut of anything, frankly. The simple solution to me is that they soured to a mild to moderate degree on the players they made available. Because that's usually what it is when these guys get traded outside of clear veteran buys. But I freely admit I can never know. Nothing whatsoever is clear here.

 

[Larry44]

Yes, but Drysdale certainly would not have been available if Mintyukov had not established himself so overwhelmingly. Or if Zellweger was not knocking on the door with a prolific junior resume. Drysdale was primarily available because of Anaheim’s particular circumstance. He may have been the odd man out in that list of names because of his injury history and missed development time, but the circumstance was the proximate cause.

I am sure there are plenty of other established players who Gauthier could have been dealt for, and perhaps Zegras was one. But again, it’s a small universe of names that would fit the criteria of being young enough to match Briere’s timeline and actually available in a trade. Zegras is only a thought because it’s unusual that a player like him is available.

We know now that they tried to get Byram off the Avs, but they passed, and they tried to trade with the Habs for the 5th to get Reinbacher last draft. In retrospect, until we find out exactly what was going on in Gauthier's mind, I don't actually blame the Flyers' Mgmt for this one. They got pretty good value back (a 21-yr old top pair PPQB and a 2nd round pick) for an unproven player who looks like he'll be pretty good but wanted to move on. Oh well, I'm not interested in throwing batteries at a head case.

 

[Redpath]

Would you actually expect the Flyers to be honest and admit their mistake or their role in a massive mistake that cost us one of our only two star level prospects?

I think it would be refreshing and might show actual signs of change, self-reflection and accountability, but it’s about the least Flyers thing I could imagine.

The team’s president going on a podcast 5 mins after the trade and invoking battery throwing and JD Drew is much, much more on brand for the Flyers.

No, you're right, I wouldn't expect Briere to be 100% honest if it truly was the Flyers' negligence that turned off Gauthier.

But even on the reverse side of things, the Friedman narrative that contradicts Briere's timeline, even Friedman remains uncertain about what transpired.

If Friedman was more certain with his story then I'd fully be prepared to just conclude "Briere is lying. He's afraid to tell the whole story." But there is still too much grey area for me to be certain that Briere is lying rather than Friedman is trying to connect dots himself.

 

[Beef Invictus]

And Primeau. Crazy.


He actually played Defense. Was just in a league of his own. All Coffey did was roam looking for offense. That’s my opinion.

"Cyclone" Taylor is feeling disrespected in the Great Beyond right now

 

[Random Forest]

It is a internal warning sign for me when I have a thought that involves being sure of what a pro team is thinking. This goes back to assuming competence. I'm glad it's not the Flyers this time because I talk about it so much in relation to them when it's a much more broad issue with sports. There are multiple orgs with horrendous processes in every sport. Anaheim certainly has some of the markers.

Zegras is ~13 months older in the same organization with the same GM. They don't have a glut of Forwards. They don't have a glut of anything, frankly. The simple solution to me is that they soured to a mild to moderate degree on the players they made available. Because that's usually what it is when these guys get traded outside of clear veteran buys. But I freely admit I can never know. Nothing whatsoever is clear here.

Yeah, I certainly won’t assume competence from any GM in any sport. I just think there’s an Occam’s razor here where Verbeek simply really liked Gauthier and sees him as a potential franchise cornerstone (tried to trade up to draft him allegedly), and Drysdale was their most expendable asset of the assets that could be moved to get Gauthier. I think Zegras is just another matter entirely, and I’m doubtful that Briere had much interest in trading Gauthier for him.