Welp, while he might suck as a person and decision maker, Cutter Gauthier doesn't suck at hockey. Actually, he's probably really good. And he was almost a Flyer.
The sting of watching Gauthier's current season (26 points in just 22 games) and his early returns (71 points through 105 career games) stings a little bit when you think about how the Flyers need some extra scoring punch, and the original excitement level around Gauthier's drafting.
Instead, he had a very public falling out with the franchise, leading to his trade for Jamie Drysdale and a 2nd round pick. This season's success of the Ducks and Gauthier has led to a referendum on the trade, with article after article declaring the Ducks clear winners. It might seem that way, but the deal and repercussions bear a deeper examination.
What's the value of a player?
Does a scoring top-six winger equal a top 4 defender who plays on the power play and averages over 21 minutes a night?
Depends on who you ask. Many players log significant NHL minutes, but not all of them are as good as Drysdale. Last season, 69 players scored 65 or more points. Surely Gauthier will be better than some of those, and worse than some, but you'd expect him to be somewhere in that 65 to 70 point range.
We haven't seen the best of Drysdale, and the Flyers are still very much in the rebuilding process, but obviously, Gauthier is blossoming as a scorer. They both are important to their teams and would fill holes on their current rosters.
The kicker is the 2025 2nd round pick, which became Jack Murtagh. Murtagh is now at Boston University, getting a trial by fire in Hockey East, one of the NCAA's best divisions. If he becomes a reliable NHL pro and Drysdale becomes a 30-40 point top 4 defender, what stats does Gauthier need to put up to overcome that?
The Relationship Created With The Ducks
The Trevor Zegras trade does not happen without the Cutter Gauthier trade.
Ryan Poehling is a nice bottom-six forward. He proved his ability with the Flyers the last two seasons, and combining him with a 2025 2nd rounder, and then a 2026 4th makes the deal worth it for the Ducks, as it fills a need, but Zegras could be a game breaker for any team.
He gives the Flyers a player with positional versatility who is a near-automatic 60 to 65 points, at just 24 years old. As he matures into his role, combined with the expanding talent on the Flyers roster, his potential ceiling is rising with every game.
The asset allocation and the trades now stand with the Flyers having two top of the lineup NHL talents and a high draft pick vs a bottom six forward, a top six forward, a draft pick that wasn't Philly's to begin with, and a player to be named later.
The risk is worth the rewards, and the relationship built, and now something that other teams will be aware of, and it plays well into Danny Briere's future deal-making ability.
Divisions Matter
The Pacific fell off a cliff this season. The Ducks are the only team that has more wins than the L and OTL columns combined in the division. They've been poaching an easy opening schedule while the Flyers slog through the deepest division in hockey.
Season's ebb and flow, and when the Flyers get hot, and the Ducks aren't, check back in on what Drysdale and Zegras are doing compared to Gauthier.