Gauthier Details Flyers Split, Says He Received Death Threats

Cutter Gauthier had the opportunity to explain his side of the story on Wednesday night as to why his time with the Flyers ended before it even began.

In an absolute blast, the Flyers gave up their fifth overall draft pick for 2022 to the Ducks on Monday evening. In exchange for Gauthier, the Flyers received Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick from Anaheim.

When the trade was announced, a well-kept secret was revealed: Gauthier had told the Flyers about seven months ago that he would not play in Philadelphia.

“He didn’t want to be a Flyer,” general manager Danny Briere said, “he didn’t want to be in Philadelphia.”

Gauthier, a top prospect, was initially excited to be drafted by the Flyers. Why did he decide against signing with them?

“There was no specific reason why I asked for a trade,” Gauthier said, via Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune, in a Zoom interview with Ducks reporters. “There were several recurring issues that I had seen over the last year and a half, two years under the Flyers organization. It suddenly hit me and I thought, 'I'm not getting anywhere with this.' ' and 'I really need to stand up for myself and see what's best for my future' and that's what I did.

Prior to this season, the Flyers made significant changes to hockey operations. In March, they fired president and general manager Chuck Fletcher. With a new, rebuilding vision for the organization's future, the Flyers hired Briere and Keith Jones as Fletcher's replacements in May. The player development team was reorganized in June.

Although the club's decision-makers were aware of Gauthier's decision, it came as a shock to fans on Monday evening.

Gauthier said he received “a lot of death threats” through social media.

The 19-year-old also refuted a report that claimed former Flyer Kevin Hayes influenced Gauthier's decision. Flyers head coach John Tortorella also vehemently defended Hayes on Wednesday night.

“I saw something on the Internet that I particularly want to address: the rumors about Kevin Hayes,” Gauthier said in an interview with Alexis Downie, host and producer of Ducks Stream, the team’s audio channel. “I would like to state officially that he had no conflict at all with anything related to the trade. Seeing all that stuff is pretty reckless as far as people say. Kevin Hayes had nothing to do with the situation. “Hand.”