Slight edge to the Ducks now.. but this is one of those trades where you won’t know who the true winner is until 3-4 years down the line. I think Gauthier potential and ceiling is much higher then Drysdale’s but then again we’re talking about two completely different positions.

Clearly if Drysdale can stay healthy and put up 40 point seasons soon then I will say this is a fair deal but I think Gauthier is an NHL now 50-60 point guy in 2-3 years and the Ducks youth are looking filthy.. I see Gauthier as a more versatile Evander Kane.

we would be happy to offer you luke schenn

Can someone educate me on who Cutter Gauthier is? I feel like I don't know enough about him, it seems like a clear Philly win.

I voted ANA win. They have the best defensive prospect pool in the NHL. Mintyukov would have replaced Drysdale anyway. Warren, Luneau, Zellweger. Drysdale hasn't really matured on the defensive side of things yet...doesn't mean he can't just hasn't yet. He's injured a lot.

BUT, I'm learning through reading this that Cutter wasn't going to sign with PHI??? so I guess PHI needed to take the risk.

he even told them that he prefers his cheesesteaks with avocado and they didn't listen!

this is the right answer but is not any fun

Philly wins because their hand was forced and that is a pretty incredible return for a forced hand. Not sure what they could have done regardless of what Gauthier turns out to be.

Drysdale is very fragile. So far, he's spent about half his career on IR/LTIR. ANA wins this deal right now b/c Drysdale would probably drop well outside the top 10 of the 1st Round in a re-draft and Gauthier is putting up excellent numbers in the NCAA, justifying his 5th OA selection thus far.

Having mctavish or Leo Carlson as your center is probably a reason why

Both teams were dealing from a position of strength as it relates to depth/youth at those positions. Philly turned an asset that didn't want to be there to 2 assets and got better on their NHL team so I'm giving them the edge here.

Gauthier was the 5 OA by the Flyers in 2022, can't really educate you more since I am not a Cutter Gauthier fan and think he has 2nd line upside

Not necessarily, this actually lines them up really well for a LD-RD balance.

LD---------------RD
Sanheim-----Drysdale
York-----------Walker
Seeler---------Ristolainen
Zamula/Staal

PP1 - Drysdale
PP2 - York/Sanheim





Jackson LaCombe for now (most teams he would be their #1 defensive prospect); he did well to start the season on the top pair on his offhand. Long term you have Luneau, Helleson, and Warren all really good prospects to be in the top 4.

Mintyukov, Zellweger, Helleson, and Hinds are all PowerPlay options in the future.

Helleson and Warren I've been tracking as bottom 4, Luneau is a question mark with what he ends up as, could be a top 4 guy.

Our PPQB options are Mintyukov, Zellweger, LaCombe, and Luneau, Hinds and Helleson are defense first guys.

I wasn't impressed with LaCombe on his off hand to start the season, I think he can play bottom 4 on his off hand okay, but he got burned a lot with Fowler.

What a random trade to happen on a Monday in January for a guy who just finished an amazing WJC-20 effort for USA. This trade can go so many ways, and it could look so different from what I have to say about it but we'll just have to wait and see.

I think the value Philly got in return for Gautheir isn't there, and I think Briere knows that, but maybe they really like Drysdale and believe he can slot into a Top 4 role and a QB PP specialist with some help from Torts. A 2nd is a good bonus too. It all depends on Drysdale staying healthy, and him putting up anything close to his 21-22 season would be really good for Philly and can help them in a playoff push. Still very young but so many injury concerns, big risk and maybe big reward we'll see. Kinda crazy to me seeing all these comments coming from Philly in these last few hours, and I completely understand as a fan of the Hurricanes with the whole Fox thing, but damn they're ripping him to shreds and they hate his guts lol. Kinda makes me want them to prove them wrong but it's up to him.

Gautheir has a lot of hype for all the right reasons, even after going "higher" in the 2022 draft then he was expected to go. He was a very fun player to watch in the WJC, a crazy good playmaker, and he didn't even get a chance to show off his elite shot that is present on Boston College in NCAA. Really like this trade for the ducks, but I can see a lot of things happening, but man is Gautheir a very good shot.

I would say it's fair.
Anaheim now have Gauthier, Zegras, Carlsson and McTavish. All of them are 22 and younger and have elite potential. Plus Anaheim have a abundance of young defenseman coming soon.
Philly add a elite right shot defenseman which they desperatly need. With York, they will form their duo of the future

He is former top-5 draft pick now in his second season at Boston College, where is a top-10 player in NCAA. He probably a top-20 prospect over all NHL pipelines and maybe as high as Top-6 or 7 among those not yet appeared in NHL games. Offensive center with some size. Skates well….but not a burner. Smart player, can play both ends of ice. While he is big, he is not a traditional power forward….more of a bigger skilled center. Good shot. Plays well in interior. He is coming of a Gold Medal performance the IIHF World Junior tournament, where he was the leading scoring and one of real stand-one prospects.

I guess after going to World Championship in May 2023, he returned and said he did not want to sign with Philly (he grew up a Pens fan). The Flyers tried to move him at 2023 draft for a top-5 pick, but we’re unsuccessful.

Question is … who from that 2023 WC team talked him out of signing with Philly?

I have my suspicions on one guy.

Just wondering how an injury prone offense first defender, who isnt particularly good at defending, and not really physical fits with Tortorellas vision?
Drysdale might have some tough times ahead in philly...

My only question is, if you have to choose between John Tortorella and Cutter Gauthier, how did you not fire Torts months ago? His shelf life is 4 years. Gauthier is going to be great for at least twice or three times that.

Zing!

I think if its was just Gautheir versus Drysdale on potential alone and what we've seen so far, its very close.

But adding in the very high in the round ANA 2nd and that Gautheir has been "tricksy" about signing in PHI, I'd give a slight edge to PHI.

In 2 months time, when Gautheir's season was over in college, and he didnt sign with PHI, his value would have been less.

PHI obviosly did their research on Drysdale (injuries) and with York, Drysdale, ANdrae, Bonk, Helge, and Ginning have a pretty good pool/mix of LD/RD youngsters. And they have a plethora of young forwards in NHL (Farabee, Foerster, brink, frost, tippett, poehling) and some prospects playing great (Mitchkov and Barkey for 2) then forward depth is hurt, but not tons.

Add in that they have 3 of the first 40 picks in 2024 draft and 3 picks in the first 50 or so in 2025 draft (as well as whatever they get for walker, seeler, etc...).

So overall, if both players hit their potential, really its that high in the round 2nd that still gives PHI a slight edge

Possibly, but based on potential alone Drysdale and that high 2nd could be just as valuable, if not more.

Very similar to Girard in COL, I would expect with the right partner, he'll be fine and its always easier to get a steady LD then a puck rushing/pt prioducing RD

I think if you look at Drysdale's value, and thinking PHI picks/position, I think Drysdale was/is worth a mid round 2024 1st and a mid round 2024 3rd and maybe a tad more, (maybe a mid round 5th). The chances of any of those picks being a drysdale is low, so Briere traded a guy who probably wasn;t going to sign and would lose a bit of trade value in 2 months time (becase PHI wouldn;t have had as much leverage). (And I think it also has to do with PHI having alot of shooters and lacking more playmakers)

So a mid round 1st, high round 2nd, and mid round 3rd for Gautheir sounds pretty okay, not great, but pretty okay.

Maybe, I'm just highly skeptical considering Drysdale's injury. Doesn't look good.

Doesnt look bad either, if its a one time occurence, (not like ellis's constant issues).

I think too many people are looking at gautheir as full on meeting potential and dismissing drysdale as not. Or that the 2nd rounder will not pan out.

Add in that Gautheir's trade value to PHI, would have taken a hit in 2 months time and I think its a pretty even return.

To be fair, at this point, we dont know what the players will turn out to be or the 2nd.