The Philadelphia Flyers have traded top prospect Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 2nd round pick.
Originally taken 5th overall by the Flyers in 2022, Gauthier joins an up and coming Ducks roster which features a slew of top end prospects, and gets his wish for a change of scenery. While reports from Gauthier’s camp and the Flyers differ greatly in the reason for the souring of the relationship, it’s evident that a rift had opened between the player and management in recent months. One that only continued to grow as the season progressed.
Flyers GM Daniel Briere told reporters that Gauthier advocated to become a Flyer during the lead up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. However those sentiments appear to have shifted drastically in the months afterwards. “Maybe a few months later, he told us he didn’t want to be a Flyer and didn’t want to play for the Flyers,” Briere said. “So, in our mind at first, we have to protect him. If he changes his mind again, and it’s out there that he doesn’t want to play, it’s going to be tough for him to put the uniform on.”
“At some point, we had to make a decision and we thought with what happened a few days ago, that this was our time to get the highest value.”
According to the Flyers, they made numerous attempts to contact Gauthier’s camp in an attempt to mend bridges, however those calls went unreturned, leading to the trade. Some have speculated that the 19 year old wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of playing another season in the NCAA, and didn’t see eye to eye with Coach John Tortorella’s methods.
Former Flyer Scott Hartnell had some frank thoughts on the situation, which he shared during information of Philadelphia’s most recent game.
Those sentiments were echoed by Tortorella who said “I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall. I’m not too interested in talking about him. I’d rather talk about Jamie. He’s the guy who’s coming here.”
After posting 49 points (31G, 18A) across 54 games for the US National Development team, Philadelphia took the 6’2″ winger with their 1st round pick in 2022. Gauthier then spent the 2022-23 campaign with Boston College where he registered 37pts (16G, 21A) across 32 contests for the Hockey East powerhouse.
Coming back the other way is the smooth skating Jamie Drysdale who burst onto the scene with Anaheim back in 2020-21. After being taken 6th overall by the Ducks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the 21 year old blue liner appeared in 81 contests for the Ducks in 2021-22, scoring 32 points (4G, 28A) along the way.
Since then however, Drysdale has been limited to just 18 games of NHL action over the last two seasons combined due to a variety of injuries. This medical uncertainty led to Anaheim including a 2nd round pick in 2025 to balance out the swapping of top prospects between the clubs.
Tortorella appeared excited about the prospect of adding another high end blue liner to the roster, telling reporters “A 21-year-old right-handed shot. We’re going to put him on the power play right away, one of them. He’s just starting. Kid’s head’s spinning right now. It’s his first time at this, but we’re really excited about the opportunity. To get a second rounder, it’s a really good deal for us.”
Despite being an offensively gifted defenseman, Drysdale ultimately became expendable due to the development of blue liners Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, Tristan Luneau, Tyson Hinds, and Jackson LaCombe. Mintyukov and LaCombe have already joined the Ducks NHL roster, while the other 3 are still waiting in the wings.
That glut of high end defensive talent paved the way to swap Drysdale for some offensive help upfront. Gauthier will now join a young core that includes Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, and Trevor Zegras amongst others.
Philadelphia is next in action Wednesday vs. Montreal, while Anaheim the Ducks travel to Nashville to take on the Predators Tuesday at 8pm ET.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Sandro Halank. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.