Forward cutter Gauthier has received death threats since joining the Anaheim Ducks.
The 19-year-old American said this on Wednesday, two days after being traded from the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft.
The gold medalist from the last World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was traded after telling the Pennsylvania organization he didn't want to play for them. The Flyers selected him with the fifth overall pick for the 2022 auction.
“There was a lot of good and bad,” said Gauthier, whose comments were reported by The Athletic. For a 19 year old who receives many death threats and thousands upon thousands of harsh messages that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, this is pretty difficult. It's a business. With all the rumors going around that aren’t true, it’s pretty difficult to say a word or anything to calm these people down.”
“But you know, people are going to have an opinion. People will say things. I can't tell them to have an opinion or not. It’s definitely been a bit of a stressful situation over the last 48 hours.”
The mystery remains
Gauthier also declined to say why he didn't want to wear a Flyers uniform.
“That’s the question everyone asks themselves. The most important thing I can say now is that I have to keep this to myself, my family and my agent,” he said. It has been a long process over the last few months to resolve this issue. I don't think this is the right time to discuss this. It may be that one day I will go into detail about what happened. I want to keep this private for now.”
“I thought it was best for me to make the decision I did. It is obvious that some people are dissatisfied. I'm not here to please everyone. I'm here to do what's best for myself and my future. I felt like it was what I had to do. Obviously people aren’t very happy about it.”