FALLOUT FROM GAUTHIER TRADE: WHAT NOW?

MONTREAL, QC — For the first time since 2017, the Philadelphia Flyers stepped up to the draft podium in Montreal and selected inside the top five of the NHL Draft in 2022.

The Flyers, in need of pretty much help everywhere at the time, selected American forward Cutter Gauthier, a natural left winger with the potential to swift to the middle. The combination of size and natural skill tantalized the Flyers enough to draft Gauthier, with the hope he’d eventually be one of the guys to lead the team’s next generation.

But sometime last spring, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported, a fracture in the relationship between the team and player opened, and it was never repaired.

As to what exactly happened, the speculation over the last 36 hours has taken us in all kinds of directions. From Gauthier not being happy with how the Flyers handled his request to turn pro last spring, to Head Coach John Tortorella being an issue, to a “rookie General Manager” in Daniel Briere, to cap overages playing a role... The fact is this: we will never truly know what exactly caused the divorce unless Gauthier himself reveals it.

It is fair to point out that Gauthier refusing to meet with team Special Advisors John LeClair and Patrick Sharp did not sit well with them. As one person close to the team said to me, that “took some balls.” The shift in character of Gauthier did shock the Flyers because, as Briere mentioned in his media availability Monday night, the Boston College product was very excited to join the Flyers after he was drafted.

Speaking to another team who interviewed Gauthier leading up to the Draft in 2022, he was described to be the “best interview,” and someone whose teammates loved and deflected attention away from himself. How things shifted since then, at least for the Flyers, left their management team stunned, with still no concrete reason as to why things went south.

Things got to a point where the Flyers couldn’t afford to let the problem fester, and pulled the trigger after months of figuring out what they could get back. Speaking to one Western Conference team yesterday, I was told they “would’ve been very interested but didn’t have the assets” that Briere and the Flyers were looking for.

And what they were looking for was very specific: a talented player in the same age range that could help immediately and in the future. I have reported several times going back to December that the Flyers would look to add if the position and age of the player made sense and didn’t involve giving up one of their high draft selections; the acquisition of 21-year-old right shot defenseman Jamie Drysdale checks all of those boxes.

Drysdale, who was drafted sixth-overall in 2020, will step into the Flyers’ lineup right away and play alongside Travis Sanheim on the club’s top pair. Drysdale expects to quarterback the Flyers’ league worst powerplay – a role he presumably will maintain for the next five-plus years.

Being a right shot defenceman, a position the Flyers have been trying to bolster for years, Drysdale will insulate an already solid outlook for the team’s backend. Not including older defensemen with term like Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam York & Egor Zamula are already younger pieces on the roster who figure to be pieces of this backend (much more so the former) for a long time, while Emil Andrae and 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk (a right shot) will enter the equation in the coming years. Assuming one can emerge into a stand-alone No.1, there’s strong reason for optimism as to how this defensive core plays out long term.

Drysdale’s checking a positional box of need is huge for the Flyers, as right shot defense and centre were the two most pressing needs for the Flyers. It is fair to mention that Gauthier, who has played both wing and centre, was not viewed as a long-term pivot in the eyes of the Flyers, who were told the same thing by other teams while discussing the player. I’m told that Gauthier projects to be a “shoot first winger” and a role he is expected to play with the Anaheim Ducks, especially when you consider all the young centremen already on that roster. Parlaying a left wing into a right shot defenceman is a positional upgrade for the Flyers’ long-term outlook.

All this to say, it does leave the Flyers with a massive hole in their pipeline in the way of talented forwards. With the exception of 2023 seventh-overall selection Matvei Michkov, who is still several years away from coming over to North America, the Flyers lack dearly in the way of forwards with top-line level potential in their pipeline – specifically down the middle. The Flyers have younger players on their roster who could play a factor long-term, like Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, but none stand out as top line game-breakers. With the exception of Frost, who has still yet to consistently prove is a top-six player, none of them are centres.

I’ve been told several times that one of the Flyers’ top priorities is bolstering their centre ice position long term; something that was said before the Gauthier trade. Now that the Flyers are even weaker up front in their pipeline, I’d imagine that adding to their cupboard up front may have shot up to the top of their to-do list.

In the here and now, the Flyers’ focus will shift to the Trade Deadline, which got a whole lot more interesting with the acquisition of Drysdale.

Now with eight defensemen on their roster, the Flyers will see how it works for a few weeks, but that something “will have to give” eventually, I’m told.

What will have to give, exactly? Sean Walker is the obvious answer.

Walker, 29, has been the subject of trade rumours for months at this point and has continued to generate interest across the league. The Flyers were contemplating re-signing him, but the Drysdale acquisition has made such a proposition a difficult one. At this point, it’s fair to say that retaining Walker will be a challenge and that a trade is more likely than not. He carries an AAV of $2.65 million, and don’t be surprised to see him added to the TFP Trade Watch List in the next update.

In the case of Nick Seeler, his name is still very much of interest to other teams, though him being a left shot may cause less of a demand. But Seeler’s $775,000 salary cap hit will certainly appeal to some teams, especially with the Flyers willing to retain money.

Ristolainen, 29, has three years remaining beyond this one at an AAV of $5.1 million, so he would not be viewed as a rental. I’m told that three teams have continued to show interest in Ristolainen, though I’ve heard at least one team the Flyers have spoken to him about would want retention. The Flyers are retaining on Kevin Hayes until 2027, meaning they have only two retention slots to work with.

Up front, I expect things to be quieter, although I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Scott Laughton’s name being tossed out there.

Laughton, 29, was a hot commodity last summer and was ultimately retained by the Flyers. He has served as the de facto captain under Tortorella, being the only player to wear a letter since the beginning of last season, and the Flyers turned down a late first-round pick for him last June. He has two years remaining on his deal with an AAV of $3 million. Laughton being moved is anything but imminent or a slam dunk, but it could be a possibility depending on where things are closer to Deadline Day.

With the Trade Deadline less than two months away and a blockbuster trade already under their belt, the Flyers are figuring to be one of the more fascinating teams as we get closer to silly season.