Evan's Daily
Evan’s NHL Daily: New Public Enemy #1 In Philly, Stanley Cup Preview?
What was just a quiet Monday afternoon in the NHL turned chaotic real fast. The Philadelphia Flyers, who apparently had been aware for a while that their top prospect, Cutter Gauthier, had no intention of signing with them, traded the 19 year old to the Anaheim Ducks. Soon after news of the trade came through, it became apparent why Philadelphia had to deal him, and the entire organization unleashed on the teenager. Now, the city of Philadelphia has a new enemy.
In Colorado, the Avalanche and the Boston Bruins played one heck of a game on Monday night. It’s a shame it had to end in a skills competition, but it was a fantastic game. Stanley Cup Final preview?
All that and more in this Tuesday edition of Evan’s Daily.
Colorado Hockey Now
Jonathan Drouin‘s confidence is sky high right now. One reason? For the first time in years, he’s healthy. (+)
Colorado played a fantastic game, and ultimately, it paid off, as the Avalanche beat the Bruins by a score of 4-3.
Alexandar Georgiev played well, but lost his cool again in the second period. He said he needs to work on it, and his coach wasn’t too happy with his goaltender showing his frustration.
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Big Time NHL Trade
While the move came as a surprise to NHL fans around the world, it apparently wasn’t a surprise to people inside the Philadelphia Flyers organization.
On Monday, the Flyers traded their top prospect, Cutter Gauthier, to the Anaheim Ducks. In exchange, they got a second round pick and defenseman Jamie Drysdale back. Not a bad return, but the Flyers would have preferred to keep their top prospect. Why didn’t they?
Because he apparently wanted nothing to do with them.
Apparently, Philadelphia had a lot of trouble trying to meet with Gauthier at World Juniors. Belief was he preferred not to play there, so Flyers made this deal https://t.co/pF9zyHcrOq
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 9, 2024
The Flyers, who were playing a home game on Monday night, let everyone speak to the media, and it’s pretty clear that Gauthier will not be welcomed when he makes his first visit to Philadelphia.
"You don't want to be a Flyer, you're not going to be a Flyer."
Keith Jones discusses trading Cutter Gauthier as soon as they could after the WJC while he was high value. pic.twitter.com/wFqDXhviXY
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 9, 2024
"I don't know Cutter from a hole in the wall"
TORTS HAS ENTERED THE CHAT pic.twitter.com/xbFqwVdTCs
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 9, 2024
“I feel bad for Cutter… well I don’t really feel bad for Cutter when he comes to Philadelphia. It’s gonna be a rough ride here and he earned it. We’re Philadelphians and we want people who want to be here with us.” – Dan Hilferty pic.twitter.com/DAXTvkHomO
— Snow The Goalie: A Flyers Podcast (@SnowTheGoalie) January 9, 2024
Scott Hartnell and Al Morganti dabble into the Cutter Gauthier convo 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Jr4zDOqwV7
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 9, 2024
The whole situation is a little bizarre. Gauthier seemed pretty excited about being a Flyers prospect over the summer, but something must have changed. Maybe he felt he was NHL ready and didn’t need another year at the NCAA level. Either way, this is one of the risks in taking NCAA players high. They hold a little bit of power in that they can just wait things out if they really want to. Gather used that leverage to his advantage. That being said, to not even talk to the NHL team that drafted you when they fly to Sweden just to meet with you seems a little off. I get why Philadelphia is upset. Fair or not, Gauthier will get a rude welcome when he makes his first appearance there.
Now, Gauthier goes to a team in Anaheim that’s putting together a pretty impressive young forward group. They’re still a ways away, but I like this move for them. I’m not a huge Drysdale fan, and they’ve got a lot of young defensemen in their system. They could be a tough team to handle in a few years.
National Hockey Now
It was a rough day in Philadelphia, made even worse by the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins came to town and beat them.
The Montreal Canadiens apparently turned down a Cutter Gauthier trade at the draft. Juicy.
A doctor gives their opinion on the injury to Jonas Siegenthaler and how long it may take for him to recover.