Rich Nixon
No Prior Knowledge of "Flyers"
I can't believe I'm defending the Flyers, but Gauthier has done enough to muddy his reputation on his own, with or without the alleged "smear campaign."
If I'm another agent, I'd hope my client isn't an immature ass clown like Gauthier, but his type seems to be more and more common these days.
As for the death threats, that's some lunatic fans thatre found in probably half if not all of the league. And those psychopaths are probably doing that dumb shit just for him refusing to sign, again with or without the alleged "smear campaign"
Basically all we have from Gauthier is his dumbass comment before the NCAA National Championship, which is very consistent with the cocky personality that the Flyers themselves said they liked when they drafted him.
Again, he might be a prick. But everything else about him being "an immature ass clown" comes from Flyers management. Gauthier has said next to nothing about the entire situation. He made his choice and communicated it in May 2023. The Flyers spent 8 months begging him to reconsider. I don't for a second begrudge a player for refusing to meet with uninvited representatives of a company that has already been informed not to contact him.
It frankly doesn't matter who the player is how they comport themselves: any accurate recap of events points back to them waiting too long to fire an incompetent GM (Fletcher) and throwing a complete newbie (Briere) into a very complicated, high-stakes negotiation just days into the job, and that conversation going awry.
For a team trying to restore credibility within its own market, reminding people of that messy period in their recent history would have been embarrassing. So instead they literally scripted a lie and sent their CEO, President, and GM onto their own captive broadcast outlets all at once to repeat it. Yes, that's a smear campaign. There's nothing else to call it.