One Year Later: The Cutter Gauthier Trade

By Thomas Harrington

One year ago today, the Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 2nd round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward prospect Cutter Gauthier.

The Ducks had drafted Drysdale in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, sixth overall. He was the second defenseman taken in the first round, as Ottawa had taken Jake Sanderson with the fifth overall pick. Alexis Lafreniere was drafted first overall by the New York Rangers, Quinton Byfield went second overall to Los Angeles, Tim Stuetzle went third overall to Ottawa, and Lucas Raymond was chosen fourth overall to Detroit. 

The 2020 NHL Draft is one of the most unique in NHL history, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a normal season, Drysdale likely would have gone back to juniors after he was drafted. Instead, he split time between the AHL and NHL the following year, while also playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors. With the Gulls, Drysdale recorded 10 points in 14  games, as well as two assists in three playoff games. With the Ducks, he recorded three goals and eight points in 24 games. With Team Canada, he had two assists in seven games. The 2021-2022 year, Drysdale’s official rookie season, remains the best in his career to date. He scored four goals and 32 points, but more importantly, played in 81 games for the Ducks. The next year, he was injured for most of it and was scoreless while playing in only eight games. Before the trade, Drysdale had played in 10 games and scored a goal and five points, once again dealing with injuries through much of the season.

The Flyers had drafted Gauthier in the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, fifth overall. The 2022 NHL Draft didn’t have a clear-cut top prospect available. In the end, Montreal chose Juraj Slafkovsky first overall, while the New Jersey Devils took Simon Nemec second overall, the Arizona Coyotes took Logan Cooley third overall, and the Seattle Kraken took Shane Wright fourth overall.

After being drafted, Gauthier played two years at Boston College; he also played for Team USA at the World Juniors in both years. In his freshman season, Gauthier scored 16 goals and 37 points in 32 games, but it was his sophomore year that was truly special. In 41 games, he scored 38 goals and 65 points. He was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the most outstanding men’s college hockey player. Gauthier led the NCAA in goals and finished second in points. At the 2022-2023 World Juniors tournament, Gauthier scored four goals and 10 points, finishing the tournament tied for ninth in goals and tied for sixth in points. The US finished the tournament with the bronze medal. Gauthier then scored two goals and 12 points in seven games the following year, finishing tied for first in both assists and points. The US won the gold medal for the sixth time ever.

Gauthier decided that he didn’t want to sign with Philadelphia. As a college player, he would become a free agent after he graduated. Rather than lose him for nothing, the Flyers opted to trade him. Drysdale played two games to start last season before being injured and was out until December. His injury gave young players like Tristan Luneau an opportunity in the NHL. Happy with how Luneau and their other young defensemen were developing, the Ducks decided they could trade Drysdale and the future of their blueline would still be strong. The Ducks were dealing from a position of strength, while the Flyers were not, but they still got back a good, young defenseman and a high draft pick.

After the trade, Gauthier finished his sophomore year and then signed his entry-level deal with the Ducks. He was able to play in the final game of the regular season and recorded his first career assist. Guathier’s rookie season has not been as strong as many hoped, but he’s still put up some decent numbers with five goals and 18 points in 40 games. More importantly, he’s been shooting the puck, but has had some bad luck. Before scoring his first career goal against Detroit, he had hit several posts. Among all NHL rookies, he’s fourth in shots on goal with 77, and ranks top 10 in goals, assists, and points among rookies.

With his new team, Drysdale played in 24 games to end the season and scored two goals and five points. He missed all of March with an injury, but returned to finish the season with Philadelphia. Drysdale averaged nearly 19 minutes of ice time per game, good for fourth among Philadelphia’s defensemen. This season, he’s played in 29 games and scored one goal and seven points, while missing nearly a month of action with another injury. Drysdale’s ice time is just under 20 minutes per game and leads all Philadelphia defensemen with over two and a half minutes of powerplay ice time per game.

A year later and I think both teams are happy they made the deal, but neither Anaheim nor Philadelphia has been blown away by the return, yet. For the Ducks, Gauthier looks like he could become a solid NHL player, but maybe not the elite scorer they were hoping for. For the Flyers, Drysdale has given them solid play on the blueline, but the time he’s spent on injured reserve is likely a concern for them. It remains to be seen who the Flyers select at the draft this summer, or even how high a pick it will be, but given Anaheim’s struggles, it will likely be somewhere in the 30s. Given the pick and the relative youth and experience level of the players involved, this feels like a trade where the true winner likely won’t be known for years to come.

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January 8th, 2025