The Philadelphia Flyers drafted Cutter Gauthier with the 5th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft last Thursday and they seem very content with that selection. They were interested in Alex DeBrincat and the asking price and going rate for his services would’ve started with that pick, but the Flyers didn’t bend because they figured Gauthier would still be around for their selection. The Montreal Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky, the New Jersey Devils took Simon Nemec, and the Arizona Coyotes took Logan Cooley, which made the Seattle selection a slam dunk with Shane Wright. With what was available, the Flyers were always going to go with Cutter Gauthier unless one of the top 4 slipped.
There were rumblings over the last few days that someone like the Arizona Coyotes would throw a curveball and take someone like a Gauthier or a Jiricek with the third pick, allowing the Flyers with a sliver of a chance at selecting a player like Logan Cooley. The Pittsburgh native would’ve been perfect but the odds were out of their favour that he would actually drop. Crazier things have happened and even did happen as the once-consensus number one overall pick in Shane Wright dropped to 4th. There were questions about his work ethic and attitude and the Slovakian Slafkovsky just kept impressing. It doesn’t hurt that he’s 6’4” and 220 lbs at the ripe old age of 18 either.
For months, especially after the draft lottery was announced and set, the Flyers were pitted against the Seattle Kraken on the two defensemen in the draft. Either way both teams were seemingly going to end up with David Jiricek or Simon Nemec. They were the safe, reliable, and consistent choices with the top 3 being some combination of Wright, Slafkovsky, and Cooley. Then a name like Matthew Savoie became a possibility for the centre-starving Flyers as he seemed like the clear cut best pivot available. Conor Geekie was mentioned a few times but at the 5th overall selection that would’ve been a stretch. Gauthier at the 5 seemed like a stretch at one time as well as he was pegged to be chosen somewhere between 10-15. His name was mentioned several times with the Flyers but it became more of a certainty after Bob McKenzie put out his draft rankings.
There’s a lot to love about Cutter, and McKenzie mentioned how several teams between 5-10 would have taken the leap of faith with the winger-turned-centre. His preference of playing down the middle helped a lot, his goal scoring was top notch compared to the other prospects below him, and his size is an added bonus for teams looking to beef up. The Flyers are too small where they need to be big and they’re too big and slow where they need to be fast; they never seem to get it right. This year they decided to prioritize size as Gauthier stands at 6’3”/201, Devin Kaplan stands at 6’4”/205, Alex Bump stands at 6’0/194, Hunter McDonald stands at 6’4”/207, Santeri Sulku stands at 6’4”/194, and Alexis Gendron is the smallest of the bunch at 5’10”/174.
Recrutes.ca laid it out perfectly for those that want a short synopsis in what you’re getting from Cutter Gauthier – size, speed, and shooting. He stands at 6’3” and over 200 lbs and he still has time to grow and grow into his frame. On top of that, for a guy of that build and size, he can skate very well which is something the Flyers seemingly lack, and lack a lot of. They don’t currently have a lot of players who are built on speed and the ones who are tabbed to be “fast” – Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee – aren’t all too quick. Down the middle they have Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes who are over 6’3” but after that there isn’t much else going for them. Morgan Frost might convert towards the wing, Scott Laughton is of average height, and others in consideration are better fitted for the grinding and bottom 6 roles.
Gauthier entered the draft conversation as a winger but as recrutes.ca mentioned “What may have helped him as much as anything aside from playing on the top line with Logan Cooley and producing was impressing scouts the he moved to centre while Cooley was at the World Juniors.” One scout also mentioned that “He certainly has the skating ability to get up and down the ice and cover defensively as a centre. Having that area to roam because of his skating might be good for him.”
Although glowing remarks, some had other thoughts but still recognized he was a top-10 talent as one scout said “I don’t know about the next level as a centre but its god for him to have the versatility. Who knows what upside he has? As a second line centre year… but he may have first-line upside on the wing. I don’t know if he’ll be a centre but he looks comfortable there.” Some have likened his game similar to a Jordan Staal; one predicated on a 200-foot game, being sound defensively, good innthe faceoff circle, and then has the bonus touch of being able to score goals with his shot. However, for him to become that kind of a player, he needs to focus more on the board battling, trench digging, and power forward style of game instead of a razzle-dazzle style. Luckily for the Flyers he doesn’t try too hard to play a game he’s not known to possess and just goes out there and competes.
The one thing that the Flyers loved about his game was how NHL-ready he was compared to other prospects. David Jiricek, Joakim Kemell, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki are all great prospects and would’ve been great selections, but they need a lot more time to develop. The Flyers want a quicker route to the NHL, one that could make an impact today, and even though he has committed to Boston College for next year, there is still some possibility of him making some noise at the pro level very soon.
In 2020-21, Gauthier split his time with the U.S. National U17 team and the USNTDP Juniors. For the former he played in 44 games, scored 20 goals and 37 points, and added 33 PIMs. For the latter he played in 32 games, scored 12 goals and 21 points, and added 14 PIMs. The following year, which ended up being his draft year, he split his time with USNTDP Juniors and the U.S. National U18 team. For the former he improved mightily by scoring 19 goals and 28 points in only 22 games, while scoring 34 goals and 65 points in 54 games for the latter. EliteProspects also added that “Gauthier is unafraid to drive the puck to the net and protects the puck nicely when he chooses to do so.” Another notch on his belt as a young draftee as the Flyers severely lack players who are willing to go to the net and score the dirty goals.
With everything that happened prior to the 5th overall selection, considering the prospects available to them at number 5, and looking at the overall grand picture; the Flyers actually made out pretty well with Gauthier. He is a little high-risk-high-reward compared to David Jiricek, and defence was a necessary addition, but the Flyers believed that adding a centre to the fold was far more important. It also doesn’t hurt that he has the speed that most players his size don’t have, he has a wicked shot as is the case with his 53 goals this season (split between 2 teams), and his 200 foot game and defensive acumen is a cherry on top of the cake. It would’ve been nice had Logan Cooley fallen into their laps, but Gauthier was a realistic choice and they nailed it on the head.
