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We Can Move on from Cutter Gauthier and Boo the Ever-Living Shit Out of Him at the Same Time
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Cutter Gauthier returns to Philly on Tuesday night as the Flyers host the Ducks in South Philly. Gauthier was on a heater to begin the season but finished with just eight points in December, now Anaheim is fourth in the Pacific after losing eight of their last nine games.
A couple of people sent me this Broad Street Hockey article, which was ratio’d on Twitter:
The headline doesn’t seem to match the article itself, which is hardly incendiary. It analyzes the Gauthier and Jamie Drysdale trade two years later, deducing that it “very much worked out for both sides.” –
“Drysdale was placed in a much more favorable developmental situation in Philadelphia than he was in Anaheim, and the emergence of a bona fide top-four defenseman is arguably more important than another winger for the current Flyers organization. It depends on if you view a top-four, play-driving defenseman or a top-line winger as more valuable in the current landscape of the NHL, but either way you shake it, it’s not a massive difference for the Flyers and Ducks organizations today.”
More or less. We published a story back in November, when Cutter was tearing it up, titled Even if Cutter Gauthier Goes on to Score 100 Goals, We’re Not Doing Revisionist Trade History. That’s when he topped the goals chart alongside Sidney Crosby, which was gross. One quitter and one Pittsburgh Penguin who enjoyed more success in his career than the entirety of the Flyers’ franchise.
Our take was that Gauthier/Drysdale trade discussion is nebulous because you’re building an argument against trading a guy who didn’t want to be here. Nobody really knows if it was possible for management to work harder to “figure it out.” The Flyers were in a transitional period with a soon-to-be fired coach who didn’t fit the rebuild and Gauthier was selected in Chuck Fletcher’s last draft before he was canned. Danny Briere was a special assistant to the GM at the time of the draft, didn’t officially become GM until 2023, and said publicly many times that Gauthier wouldn’t communicate with the organization. Then, while the dust was still settling, Gauthier never gave a clear reason for why he wanted out. That’s why people were bothered.
Undoubtedly, however, forcing his way out of Philly was good for Gauthier’s career. He’s flourished out there, while Drysdale has also been very good this season. The trade also opened the door for the Flyers going on to acquire Trevor Zegras, so it really was a true win/win type of trade in which two rebuilding franchises ended up benefiting.
All of that being said, it doesn’t preclude us from booing the ever-living shit out of Cutter. We can “move on from the Cutter Gauthier discourse” while also considering him an enemy in perpetuity,* because the guy quit on us. BOOOOOOOOOOOO! You’re a quitter! BOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Nobody is throwing batteries at the guy, but a healthy BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO should always be in play, now and forever.
*as always, more than one thing can be true
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com