Swedish-born young prodigy Cutter Gauthier has stirred the hockey world with his surprising decision not to play for the Philadelphia Flyers due to a personal matter.
Despite being the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft for the Flyers, Gauthier has made his unwillingness to join the team clear since May 2023. His reluctance finally led to a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, January 8.
The 19-year-old forward was traded for defenseman Jamie Drysdale, drafted sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Gauthier recently addressed the trade situation on Wednesday’s Light the Lamp podcast episode by the Ducks. While he discussed his motivations for seeking an exit from the Flyers, Gauthier remained tight-lipped about several details.
“It’s kind of tough to talk about,” Gauthier said. “I’d like to announce that, like, it’s a personal matter between myself and my family and my agent Kurt .”
In the Ducks podcast, Gauthier also made sure he addressed the rumors circulating of former Boston College teammate Kevin Hayes. A different podcast earlier in the week suggested that Hayes was a part of Gauthier’s rift with the Flyers, having influenced him to explore a move elsewhere.
“I would like to officially say that he had zero, zero conflict with anything that had to do with the trade, and seeing all that stuff is pretty ruthless from what people are saying,” Gauthier said. “But Kevin Hayes had nothing to do with the situation at hand, and I can’t really talk too much about it. Going to keep it to myself and my family and my agent.”
Gauthier mentioned that dealing with the situation over the past few months has been a lengthy process. While he wanted to keep it private for now, Gauthier hinted that “there might be one day where I kind of get into details on what happened.”
Post-trade backlash
Following the Gauthier-Drysdale trade, Flyers general manager Daniel Brière informed the media that the trade was due to Gauthier’s refusal to sign, train, or communicate with the team.
On Tuesday, Flyers president Keith Jones also added that Gauthier “didn’t want to be a Flyer.”
Fueled by those remarks, a social media storm surrounding the trade prompted Gauthier to engage in a 30-minute phone call with Anaheim reporters to address the reactions he has been receiving.
“There’s been a lot of good and bad,” Gauthier said. “A 19-year-old kid getting a lot of death threats and a bunch of thousands and thousands of people reaching out and just saying some pretty poor things that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, it’s pretty tough to see, obviously.”
In the call, Gauthier also denied the reason for his trade being his unwillingness to play under Flyers coach John Tortorella. The 19-year-old athlete has “had many hard-o coaches throughout my whole life” and “any coach I play for would love to have me on their team.”
“I actually met Torts during dev camp two years back,” Gauthier said. “I was super excited and thrilled to meet him, and obviously being a big name in hockey and the coaching staff industry, definitely was not against playing for him whatsoever.”
Gauthier, who will turn 20 next week on January 19, earned the title of the best forward at the 2024 IIHF World Championship. In seven games, he contributed 12 points, comprising two goals and ten assists. His contribution was crucial in securing the gold medal for the United States.