"I Don't Know Cutter From A Hole In The Wall" - John Tortorella And The Philadelphia Flyers Rightfully Torch Cutter Gauthier On His Way Out Of Philly
I know the college football national championship was going on last night. I know we're about to enter the NFL playoffs. I'm sure somewhere that someone cares about the NBA regular season. But one of the biggest stories in sports last night was 2022 5th overall pick Cutter Gauthier giving the Philadelphia Flyers the double bird, telling them he refuses to play in Philly, and the Flyers shipping his ass out of town to Anaheim in exchange for Jamie Drysdale and a 2nd round pick in 2025.
It sucks that Gauthier doesn't want to be a part of this organization but at the same time...fuck that kid. Bullet dodged. Here's a kid who hasn't even put on an NHL sweater yet, and he already has the audacity to send guys like Daniel Briere, John LeClair and Patrick Sharp to voicemail when they tried to get into contact with him. A kid who clearly has no desire to work hard and build something special with the culture in Philly. He's played on loaded, skill teams his entire life and the thought of having to play a tough brand of hockey in Philly was too much for him to handle. So if you don't want to be a part of that, then the Flyers don't want you to be here anyway.
Which the entire organization, from ownership to managerial to coaches to players, all made abundantly clear after last night's loss to Pittsburgh.
I couldn't have more faith in what Danny Briere is doing with the Flyers right now after hearing how that all went down. They've known for months that Cutter Gauthier didn't want to be here, and kept silent about it for months in a world where literally everything gets leaked just to make sure the protected him. They flew out to Sweden to try to meet with him and his team for the World Juniors, and basically got told to fuck off. So he makes the best trade he could put together, and immediately got in front of a camera to talk about it. Also made sure to casually throw in there that they considered Gauthier as a left winger instead of a center.
So you have the GM immediately getting in front of a camera to explain the move. Keith Jones is the Flyers' President of Hockey Ops. He's no stranger to being in front of a camera, but he made it pretty clear what the company line was going to be on this one--"If you don't want to be a Flyer, you're not going to be a Flyer".
Dan Hilferty is essentially the de facto owner of the Flyers. He's the chairman and CEO, and he just wanted to let Cutter Gauthier know what's in store for him whenever he makes his first trip to Philly as a member of the Ducks.
The Flyers were keeping all of this under wraps to protect Cutter Gauthier's image from a public standpoint. But within the locker room, it seems like everybody already knew this kid wanted nothing to do with the team. So they all seem pretty happy to see they'll never have to be teammates with him now.
Big difference between hearing and knowing.
But obviously the headlining quote from the night comes from none other than John Tortorella. "I wouldn't know Cutter from a hole in the wall" is such a shot to a kid who clearly thinks so highly of himself that he's above playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. You have to imagine that one of the main factors behind Cutter Gauthier not wanting to play in Philly has to do with not wanting to play for Torts. Right, wrong, Charmin ultra soft or whatever you want to call it, I'm sure that Torts played a big role in him not wanting to be here. So to get drilled with that quote from Torts is the final kick on his way out of town.
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A few more quick thoughts on the trade. Listen, obviously when we're talking about potential ceilings, Cutter Gauthier is the better player than Jamie Drysdale. Does that mean that the Flyers "lost" the trade? Not a fucking chance. The options were either lose Cutter Gauthier to free agency after spending 2 more years at BC, or get back anybody in return. The fact that they picked up a great skating, right-handed defenseman who can quarterback a powerplay and be a part of the top pairing for this team for years to come is a major success. I wouldn't say they "won" the trade either, but getting Drysdale was a massive get if he can stay healthy and this coaching staff can develop him to his full potential. They got the best outcome they could get considering the situation.
Also, for anybody out there who is trying to say this is the exact situation that led to Lindros becoming a Philadelphia Flyer, all I ask is for you to politely shut the fuck up. Similar situations, maybe. But I urge you to turn on your brains and look up Marcel Aubut and all the events that led to Lindros not wanting to play for Quebec. There were legitimate issues with not wanting to play for that owner. There's seemingly nothing Cutter Gauthier could have against this organization right now aside from just not wanting to play for Torts, or having his feelings hurt that he had to go back to college this year.