Meet Philadelphia sports’ newest villain — What happened with Cutter Gauthier?
Photo by Heather Barry
The Flyers drafted Cutter Gauthier at fifth overall a year and a half ago and he was thought to be a key piece to the rebuild, until he was not.
Gauthier preached to General Manager Daniel Brière about how he was built to be a Flyer and how excited he was to play in Philadelphia. And then all of a sudden, he changed his mind. With that came one of the most outlandish trade announcements in Flyers history.
“He looked at us at the draft and told us he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer, and maybe a few months later told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer,” Brière said.
Randomly, in the middle of the first period of the Flyers’ 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night, the Flyers dealt Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks without any prior speculation by anyone.
What?
The breakdown happened months ago, Brière confirmed to the media during the first intermission Monday night, and as for why, he said the Flyers never got an answer from Gauthier’s camp. This led to multiple theories and rumors.
Here is what went down, as Brière explained it:
- Gauthier returned from the IIHF World Championship at the end of May and told the Flyers that he no longer wanted to be a part of the organization. So, he did not attend development camp that summer.
- Other teams found out about this in the summer and started calling Philadelphia. The Flyers were put in a tough spot and had to make an effort for those executives around the league to keep things as quiet as possible to protect Gauthier in the event he changed his mind and as president of hockey operations, Keith Jones, said later that night, to preserve Gauthier’s trade value.
- Gauthier’s camp had no contact with the Flyers and months went by. Brière and Jones flew out to the World Junior Championship in Sweden where Gauthier won gold with Team USA while performing at the tournament’s highest, to try to plead to Gauthier’s camp one final time, but a meeting was refused. The Ducks offered promising defenseman Jamie Drysdale and Gauthier’s World Juniors performance put his value at its highest. So, the Flyers did the deal.
“It was a long time coming, “Brière said Monday. “It’s been going on for a while. We tried to give him space. We tried to get in touch with him many times. They wouldn’t communicate as far as the Gauthier side. So, at some point, we had to make a decision, and we thought with what happened just a few days ago [at World Juniors], this was our time to probably get the highest value.”
The course of the Flyers’ rebuild has turned. To what extent? Not sure, and probably will not be for a while. The Flyers have shocked the hockey world and are playing way above expectations. Another top draft pick to place another gamble on a prospect this summer is not looking like it will happen. The Flyers’ way of building is going to have to be smarter from here on out.
The Flyers do not have the city’s total attention right now, as they have not for the past few years. But they are working on it, and the new management of Brière and Jones has turned this organization around. They have created the Flyers into a family again, like how it was when Ed Snider was around. And Gauthier could have been part of the solution the Flyers earning the city’s undivided attention back.
However, he has become the new J.D. Drew.
On Monday night, the Flyers. from the top on down, established a new message: If you do not want to be here, then we do not want you.
“He didn’t want to be a Flyer,” Jones said on the broadcast during the second intermission. “You don’t want to be a Flyer? You’re not going to be a Flyer.”
Head coach John Tortorella’s stance said things a little, well, less calmy than Jones did.
“I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall,” he said. “And I’m not too interested in talking about him. I’d rather talk about Jamie. He’s the guy that’s coming here.”
And then team governor Dan Hilferty, who went on the Snow the Goalie podcast during the second intermission, kept it real as well. “I feel bad for Cutter… well I don’t really feel bad for Cutter when he comes to Philadelphia. It’s gonna be a rough ride here and he earned it. We’re Philadelphians and we want people who want to be here with us.”
So why could this have happened? Why did Gauthier bail on the Flyers?
Initially, Anthony SanFilippo reported that “Kevin Hayes’ fingerprints were all over this.”
Hayes, who spent four seasons with the Flyers before being traded to the St. Louis Blues in the off-season, was very influential with Gauthier and apparently “either had a direct impact on Gauthier’s decision to not want to play for the Flyers or that it was very possible that he did.” Hayes and Gauthier were close as they both starred at Boston College. Gauthier named Hayes a role model and said he was someone he is fortunate to have in his contacts whom he can call whenever he needs advice. Hayes was not a fan of Tortorella and may have put doubts in Gauthier’s mind about what it is like playing for Torts.
However, Hayes rejected the concept that he had no involvement in Gauthier’s decision.
“It’s 100 percent false,” Hayes said on Tuesday. “I don’t know where he got his information from. At first, it didn’t really seem like a big deal. But just the s*** that’s come from the aftermath, people with death threats, people want my family dead, people happy my brother’s dead.
“It’s just crazy stuff coming out on something I had not a single aspect of what I’ve done, had any implications on this kid’s decision.
” … it’s just crazy stuff coming out on something I had not a single aspect of what I’ve done, had any implications on this kid’s decision.”
So, who knows?
All I know is, the Ducks’ next trip to the Wells Fargo Center next season since they played here already, the building is going to be a madhouse, regardless of how good the Flyers are by that point. We do not forget, and will not forgive.
Welcome to the naughty list in Philadelphia, Cutter.
