The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward Cutter Gauthier to an entry level contract following the conclusion of the NCAA’s Frozen Four the club announced.
Gauthier, who was acquired in a trade with the Flyers earlier this season, is expected to make his NHL debut on Thursday when Anaheim takes on the Vegas Golden Knights. The 20 year old’s 38 goals across 41 collegiate games are the most in a single NCAA season over the last 25 years, tying Ryan Potulny’s mark with Minnesota.
Originally selected 5th overall by Philadelphia in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Gauthier was ultimately flipped to Anaheim due a to perceived lack of commitment to the organization from the Flyers’ front office. According to Flyers GM Danny Briere, the Hobey Baker finalist refused to sign with the club, and eventually cut off communication with the team altogether.
Gauthier’s camp paints a decidedly different picture on how things went down, however the fact remains that the 6’2″, 189lbs winger is now on the West Coast and set to begin his NHL career in Orange County.
Gauthier helped guide the US to a gold medal at the World Junior Championships, and was a member of Boston College’s finalist team at the NCAA national championships this past weekend. BC would lose to eventual champion Denver 2-0 on Saturday.
The smooth skating winger will be a key piece in helping the Ducks emerge out of the Western Conference basement in the coming years. Anaheim hasn’t made the playoffs since 2018, and currently sit 2nd to last in the Pacific Division with a 26-50-5 record on the year.
Gauthier will join a talented young core which includes the likes of Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger amongst others. The Ducks will wrap up their regular season on Thursday when the team travels to Las Vegas.
Photo: Sandro Halank. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.