Nikita Nesterenko had actually awakened from an afternoon nap on Monday when he got a cellular phone notice. Nesterenko, a previous Boston College forward now betting the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls, saw the name of previous college colleague Cutter Gauthier appear in a post sent by the Anaheim Ducks
” Initially, I seemed like they were simply congratulating him on the world juniors or something,” Nesterenko stated. “Something strange. Perhaps some sort of connection. And after that I saw they got him. I resembled, ‘Wow, that’s insane.'”
The Ducks had actually traded Jamie Drysdale, a defenseman they prepared with the No. 6 choice in 2020, and a 2025 second-round choice for Gauthier, the No. 5 choice in 2022. The offer sent out shockwaves throughout the hockey world, leaving the Philadelphia Flyers disillusioned and infuriating big swaths of their enthusiastic fan base.
A near-sellout crowd at Wells Fargo Center welcomed the 21-year-old Drysdale today in his outstanding Flyers launching. On the other hand, Gauthier emerged on Wednesday in 2 interviews to talk about the trade, though he didn’t supply particular responses about how things broke down with the Flyers. Gauthier stated he got death hazards through social networks after reports emerged that he didn’t wish to bet Philadelphia.
So, who is Gauthier? Is the 19-year-old possibility being unjustly reviled for desiring a say in his future? And are his abilities sufficient to validate all this debate? Some individuals who have actually hung out with him, and have actually viewed him carefully, think he’s not getting reasonable treatment in some circles.
” He’s got an excellent character,” Nesterenko stated. “He’s not scared to speak his mind. Individuals are seeing that.
” Certainly, the Flyers’ fan base and company is going to be a little salted and pissed off that they didn’t get such a star gamer. Right now, when you’re sort of pissed off, your very first impulse is to trash the kid and state that he’s entitled and he does not wish to exist. He’s a fantastic kid.
” He decided for himself where he believes he’s going to suit much better. Have a much better advancement for his profession and the future. The truth that individuals are pointing fingers stating he’s entitled and all this things, it’s simply insane to me since he was never ever like that at college. He simply desires what’s finest for the group. Simply a fantastic gamer and terrific kid off the ice.”
Craig Button, a TSN expert and a previous NHL executive, does not like how the Flyers responded in the trade’s consequences, with pointed remarks from group president Keith Jones and chairman CEO Dan Hilferty, who stated on a Flyers-themed podcast: “It’s gon na be a rough trip here and he made it. We’re Philadelphians and we desire individuals who wish to be here with us.”
To Button, the Flyers had some complicity in staining Gauthier’s makeup.
” I have actually been around Cutter for a variety of years,” he stated. “I believe Cutter is an elite gamer. I do not understand what took place. Does it truly matter? The Philadelphia Flyers had the ability to make a trade. What astonishes me is they were going to safeguard a kid by not stating anything till they traded him. Then they began a character assassination.
” It’s a lot of B.S. as far as I’m worried. … At the end of it, take the high roadway. I do not understand if Cutter will ever have a discuss it or if he ever requires to talk about it. Bottom line is, I got all the time in the world for Cutter Gauthier. The Philadelphia Flyers acknowledged that he wasn’t going to play there, and they went and made a trade. Commemorate what you simply did. You do not need to smear the kid.
” It’s amusing. I didn’t see any person in the Philadelphia Flyers company speaking about Eric Lindros choosing where he wished to go. A lot of trash is what I believe it is.”
Nesterenko played 9 video games with the Ducks last season after ending his BC profession and is working to return to Anaheim. He’s intending to be colleagues with Gauthier once again and feels that, in Gauthier, the Ducks will have a gamer who will be understood for far more than declining the group that prepared him.
” When he pertains to Anaheim, he’s going to be terrific,” Nesterenko stated. “He’s very competitive. He wishes to win. That’s what we’re pursuing. I have actually got absolutely nothing however advantages to state about him, truthfully.”
The very first response of Boston College associate head coach Brendan Buckley, when he saw the response of others to the trade, was to think about Gauthier, who he understood had a lot going on, beyond the trade. The Eagles personnel had actually provided their 6 members of Group U.S.A.’s gold medal-winning world juniors team a long time off before going back to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to rejoin the group and reboot their college seasons. Some had actually gone back to school on Jan. 8. Others were still making their method back on Tuesday.
Cutter Gauthier has 29 objectives in his 49 video games with Boston College. (Michael Miller/ ISI Photos/ Getty Images)
For his part, Buckley has “absolutely nothing however terrific things to state about him and what he has actually provided for our program over the last 2 years.”
” He has actually been a fantastic colleague, a fantastic guy to coach, he’s competitive in practice, he presses himself, he wishes to improve, he desires the group to do well,” Buckley stated. “In 2015, we weren’t where we most likely wished to be, and after that we had a good class been available in with some great skill and he assisted them out and assisted get them up to speed.”
He understands the Ducks are getting an excellent gamer, too.
” The very first thing that enters your mind with Cutter is an elite release and shot,” Buckley stated. “He can score from all over the ice and it leaves of his stick rapidly. I believe it surprises goalies, how rapidly the puck can get to them. That semifinal objective on the power play at the world juniors was a fantastic example of how he can simply rip a puck and alter a video game. “
Buckley stated Gauthier has actually likewise striven to complete his video game and get ready for the NHL over the last 2 seasons.
” He’s simply a more fully grown gamer now and I believe that simply includes being a bit older and physically growing, and after that likewise playing in high-compete video games, which he has actually constantly done the last 2 years for us,” Buckley stated. “He has actually done an actually great task. He strives and he’s an enjoyable guy to coach since he wishes to improve each and every single day.”
3 years back, when Gauthier was set to sign up with U.S.A. Hockey’s nationwide program, Nick Fohr, among the coaches for the 2004 age, keeps in mind there being “a lot stated about him.”
There weren’t specifics, however he keeps in mind there being “a little an unfavorable undertone from a perspective of ‘he may be difficult to handle.'”
Therefore, naturally, he was a little thinking about how Gauthier was going to remain in their 2 years together with the group.
In the end, however, “the reality could not have actually been even more from that,” according to Fohr.
” Truthfully, all of this things that was being stated, none of it held true. None of it. He was incredible, and he was a fantastic colleague. He worked his tail off, he was engaging, he had a fantastic relationships with everyone, personnel consisted of. He was terrific. He did whatever we asked him to do and he even desired more.”
Gauthier was billed as one of the stars in his age from the very start. “Everyone was speaking about Cutter Gauthier,” Fohr stated. However while he ‘d complete as that guy– a first-liner for the ’04 group– and would end up being the No. 5 choice, that’s not where Fohr and U.S.A.’s personnel began him.
That consisted of using the 2nd power-play system throughout his time at the program since he played the very same area as a larger star, Logan Cooley “It didn’t prevent him from tackling his company and doing his work and being great with it,” according to Fohr.
” It was a very skilled group and he wasn’t played as the emphasize guy. Logan Cooley was the highlighted gamer in the group. And he most likely was worthy of to be on that leading system sometimes however he wasn’t. So he wasn’t handed whatever, he wasn’t provided whatever, it wasn’t everything about Cutter Gauthier. And he was incredible,” Fohr stated.
” It wasn’t simple for him here and often if you’re the guy when you are available in and you remain the guy for 2 years like Cooley was, it’s simple for those guys, they never ever truly deal with any hardship or have minutes where they get annoyed and all of a sudden their real colors come out. Which wasn’t the case for Cutter. He needed to work for the important things he got and it wasn’t constantly simple for him. And by the end of it he’s on that line with (Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud) and things are truly, truly great. I believe it simply reveals his character, and how he worked, and his contend level.”
That hasn’t altered in Fohr’s time with Gauthier given that he left the program, either. He coached him at the 2023 world juniors. Before the 2024 world juniors, when Gauthier remained in Plymouth for choice camp, he made time to skate and experiment Fohr’s existing U18 group.
” He was incredible with my existing gamers, and there’s no ‘I’m much better than any person else’ kind of mindset to him. He’s simply a modest kid that simply tackles his company and values the important things he gets,” Fohr stated.
Today, as Fohr saw how all of this played out, he was advised of gamers like Jimmy Vesey and Adam Fox, who likewise chose not to bet the groups that prepared them. On draft day, he keeps in mind seeing Gauthier and his household at the hotel and them being “delighted” about the Flyers.
” Things might have altered. … It takes place a lot more than individuals recognize. This simply taken place to be at a huge minute with the world juniors and him being a high profile guy. It does not make him an evildoer by any ways,” Fohr stated.
” They’re kids. They’re still kids.”
Gauthier will not play his very first NHL video game till he completes his sophomore season with the Eagles, which might be an unforgettable one considered that they are ranked No. 1 in the country. It might feature the Ducks in April, as he verified that he means to sign an entry-level agreement with them. And there will be terrific anticipation for the forward, who can play center or on the wing and is, Button busily thinks, a “multi-dimensional risk” in the mold of Colorado Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen as a similarly hazardous shooter and set-up male.
” We take a look at Cutter and believe what a fantastic shot and what a fantastic objective scorer he is,” Button stated. “He’s likewise a hell of a playmaker. And I believe that’s what keeps challengers off balance when you’re betting Cutter. He can beat you with a play, he can beat you with a shot. And he’s huge. He can skate. He’s got self-confidence in his video game.”
Button calls Gauthier “an elite, elite shooter” with identify precision. That has actually assisted him end up being BC’s leading objective scorer over his 2 seasons, acquiring 29 in his very first 49 video games with the Eagles. He had just 2 in the United States’ march to their 6th world juniors gold medal however had 10 helps to connect Czechia’s Jiri Kulich, a Sabres possibility, for the competition scoring title.
Nesterenko played last season with Gauthier at BC and remembers him as a peaceful kid initially that began to open as he discovered his footing in NCAA competitors. The 2 would grow as linemates and while the Eagles had a substandard 14-16-6 record, Gauthier led them in objectives (16) and points (37) as a freshman.
” On the ice, he’s a talented scorer,” stated Nesterenko, who played 3 seasons at BC and signed with Anaheim after a trade with the Wild “It’s hard at this level to score an objective, so whenever you can protect a guy like that with that scoring touch, it’s a substantial plus. Off the ice, he’s a fantastic kid. He implies well. He’s got a fantastic household. He was sort of shy entering into college. Was really to himself. Certainly, a great deal of guys are shy when they are available in. New group, brand-new environment. When he sort of been familiar with all the guys– and I sort of brought him under my wing, teaching him a couple things– he got changed truly fast.
” We had a great deal of enjoyable. We didn’t have the very best group in regards to outcome. Certainly, they’re doing way much better this year. However he was a huge part of our group. We had a great deal of enjoyable. He’s a fantastic kid.”
( Picture of Cutter Gauthier: Richard T Gagnon/ Getty Images)